Polaroids
by chlorineobsession
Summary: Shikamaru, Temari, a bucket list and road trip that is both troublesome and exhilarating. All she needed was a chauffeur, all he wanted was a camera.[Kinda Lemon] [shikatema][AU] [With some Sai/Ino, Chōji/Karui and others] *Don't own Naruto*
1. Day 1-Coffee Shop

He stared blankly at her.

She had just spent five minutes reciting what she had planned to say, and he stared blankly after she'd spoken perfectly, _word for word._

That son of a bitch was _so_ going to get it.

"Care to comment?" She snapped, crossing her arms and moving away from the counter.

"Um... Do I know you?"

She frowned.

"I come here every goddamn day and you write my name on your shitty little coffee cups. _Yes._ You know me."

"Sorry miss, but we get hundreds of customers here every day."

She was seething, and she genuinely wanted to throttle the dark haired boy so violently he'd possibly suffer from internal bleeding afterwards.

"Tell me..." She craned her neck to squint at his name badge. "Shukanaru, do you like your job?"

The barista glanced down at his badge before lazily bringing his eyes back to hers.

"Troublesome... " He muttered "No, I don't."

"I didn't think so. What would you rather be doing? What's your dream job?"

His expression didn't change as he tightened his stupid little pony tail and dusted off his apron.

"Photographer."

God, he was even being economical with the amount of syllables he was using.

"Why are you working here then?"

He sighed again, more dramatically than before.

"I'm saving up for a camera if you must know. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do."

"Yes, one that you don't enjoy. When's your break?"

Yet another sigh.

"In half an hour,"

"Great, I'll see you then."

She stalked back to her table holding her coffee cup tightly.

She sank into her chair and glared in his direction, she wasn't going to let him get away.

She knew she was crazy for what she was doing, but she didn't care.

She needed to get this done and dealt with before it was too late...

"Hey."

She glanced up and saw him standing over her with his arms crossed and his apron lazily tossed over his shoulder.

"What do you need me for?"

She smiled at him.

"Walk with me, Shukanaru." She said as she rose from her chair and pulled on her coat.

"Shikamaru. Not Shukanaru."

"Whatever."

They left the coffee shop at a brisk pace and Temari began talking.

"As I mentioned before, I need a driver. I see you have a car, I want you to take me to places for one week. That's all I ask. One week of your time, no more, no less. I'll buy you whatever camera you want, and then we'll be on our merry ways. You'll never have to see me ever again."

"Sure."

"Wait, what?"

"I said sure. I'll do it."

She smiled widely. She hadn't expected him to agree so easily.

"Brilliant. I'll see you Monday."

-IOIOIOI-

She waited outside the coffee shop.

It made the most sense to wait for him there, they hadn't exchanged details after all-he probably didn't even know her name.

She took out her map, she'd circled all the places she wanted to see and planned what routes to take.

It didn't show, but she was excited.

"Troublesome."

She spun to face him, narrowing her gaze the moment it landed on him.

"I have a name you know, and troublesome isn't it." She snapped. "Go tell your manager that you're taking the week off next week."

"Done." He yawned widely and squinted at her. "What's your name then, Troublesome?"

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"You wrote it on my cup every damn morning. You should know."

"I'm not bothered trying to remember what your name is. Does it have less syllables than 'Troublesome' ?"

She was confused by his questions and shook her head.

"The same amount."

He shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Then I don't care, it won't help me save extra breath."

She rolled her eyes and ignored him.

"Right, Shikonaru or whatever you go by, here is the list of our day-by-day plan." She handed him a burgundy notebook, one that she wrote all her"lists" in.

It was almost full, and a thin black ribbon marked the page she showed to the dark haired barista.

"That's...a lot." He commented eventually.

She nodded proudly.

"I haven't much time, I want to see all these sights before I can't anymore. I planned out the days in such a way that we don't do unnecessary detours, you'll be pleased to know."

He said nothing as he continued to look at the list.

"Okay, troublesome. When do you want to do it?"

"Next Monday. I don't care if it doesn't suit you. Meet me here at half nine. I'll cover the costs, all you need to worry about is the driving."

He shrugged.

"I never thought my first road trip would be with a total stranger..." He mumbled.

"Suck it up, it's only one week."

They parted ways, and didn't turn back.

-IOIOIOI-

"You're late."

"Hn."

She opened the passenger seat and slipped into his car.

It was nothing fancy, a small, cheap, twelve-year-old hunk of metal. The lazy-ass didn't even give it a clean before she arrived.

She pushed aside an old green hoodie and fastened her seatbelt.

"Where to first, ma'am?"

"Day one is the natural history museum, art gallery and the architectural college. Buildings and shit. On we go, chauffeur."

He snorted at the name she'd given him, but was wise enough to keep quiet.

He hit the gas pedal and they were off.

"So... What's your name again?"

"Temari."

"Cool."

"..."

"..."

"Why are we doing this, might I ask?"

"I'll pay you to not ask questions."

"Done."

The silence was a comfortable one. As they neared a busier part of town where the traffic was heavier, the chauffeur- Shikanoru or whatever- switched on the radio.

Generic brain-dead music filled the car and Temari leaned her head back and enjoyed it, not daring to close her eyes.

She took it all in- the drizzling rain, the red lights on the cars. Traffic lights, windscreen wipers.

All things were precious.

And her days were numbered.

-IOIOIOI-

"Hey, Shokaniku, check this one out!"

The little punk shook his head and muttered something along the lines of "it gets worse every time!" before standing beside her.

"What?" He asked as his narrow eyes roamed the painting.

"The metal is so shiny! It looks so realistic."

He nodded and glanced at her.

"I'm seriously curious as to why you couldn't have come here yourself."

"I needed a driver."

"Family?"

"None of my relatives drive."

"Taxis?"

"Far too expensive."

"Friends?"

"Do I seem like the type of girl who has friends?"

"... I guess not."

He sighed.

"This is so troublesome..."

"You could have just said no."

"I want out of my job. I want to be able to get into photography as soon as possible."

She shrugged and moved onto the next painting.

"Well then quit complaining." She suggested.

"I'm not complaining, I'm just saying it's troublesome. You're troublesome."

She resisted the urge to thump him.

-IOIOIOI-

"Hey, look at the weasel Shukaniru!"

"Yes, troublesome. It's a dead weasel. Well done."

"Don't phrase it like that."

She huffed and glared at him. Why did he have to ruin the first trip she'd ever made to the natural history museum by sulking at her and saying stupid things?

Well, yeah, it was a stuffed weasel, but still.

"It's cute."

"Huh?"

"The weasel." He said. "It's cute."

She nodded.

"Of course it is. Weasels are the greatest things to have ever been created ever."

He chuckled.

"I'll take it they're your favourite?"

"Bingo."

-IOIOIOI-

They were in the car again, music playing, horns sounding from cars in the distance.

"Where are we staying for the night?"

Temari glanced at her map and looked for the blue dots, she had marked all the lodgings in that colour. Precision was a virtue.

"There's a three star hotel about three miles from here if you take the next left."

"What's it called?"

Temari sighed and reached for her glasses which she'd left in her small bag pack.

" The Dropping Well Hotel." She said after putting them on and squinting at the page.

"I've heard of it," he said simply, glancing briefly in her direction. "Glasses suit you, by the way."

She hurriedly pulled them off and shoved them back into her bag.

He snorted.

"It was a compliment, sheesh."

She took a deep breath and ignored him.

She didn't have time for compliments.

-IOIOIOI-

"A room for two please. Separate beds."

"Er..."

"Zip it Sigmund."

"...Sigmu-what the hell?!"

The receptionist gave them a weary look before handing the room key to Temari.

"My name isn't Sigmund."

Temari shrugged.

"Whatever, Shikunari."

"SHIKAMARU! IT'S SHIKAMARU."

"Sheesh Simon, stop shouting."

He rolled his eyes.

"Why did you get a double room?"

"I'm not wasteful with my money. Don't worry, we won't be sharing a bed or anything, jeez!"

They got to their room and picked their respective beds before taking it in turns to go to the bathroom and change into their pyjamas.

"Night, Chupa Chups."

"Night Troublesome."

* * *

 _ **A/N: Here's the beginning of a little side-story I've been working on.**_

 _ **Please let me know what you think,**_

 _ **Follow /Fave/Review.**_

 _ **~Lee ;)**_


	2. Day 2- Polaroid Stalkers

"WAKE THE FUCK UP."

She took satisfaction in the way he winced at her voice.

"Good, here's today's plan of action, Sid."

"Where do you get Sid from?! It doesn't even _remotely_ sound like my name, woman!"

"And woman doesn't sound like _my_ name either."

She dropped her notebook onto his chest and walked into the bathroom to take a shower.

When she came out dressed and in the process of drying her hair, he was fast asleep.

She reminded herself that orange did not suit her, and that murder was still illegal. By going to prison, she would make it impossible for her to see all the sights she wanted to see.

She refrained from killing him.

She just yelled some more.

-IOIOIOI-

"Animal day today, it would seem." He commented after reading the list over breakfast.

"Yup. Aquarium, zoo and bird watching. I can't wait!"

"Surely you should have done this with someone who wasn't a stranger?"

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Listen here, Shantelle. I needed someone to drive me here. I don't know anyone who drives."

"Shikamaru. My name is _still_ Shikamaru."

"Calm yourself, Shakira. I heard ya the first time."

He sighed and shovelled another spoonful of granola into his mouth.

Temari was just admiring the lovely work she'd done on pissing him off when she got another wave of pain in her head.

Clapping her hands to her temple, she swore loudly and clenched her eyes shut.

She had forgotten to take her medication that morning.

She quickly excused herself and rushed up to the room they were staying in.

She hurriedly pulled her medication box out of her backpack and swallowed them down.

She didn't have a glass of water on her so she dashed into the bathroom and gulped down some tap water before her pills could start dissolving in her mouth.

There was nothing worse than the taste of dissolved pills in the morning.

She took a few deep breaths and tried to ignore the pain in her brain. The meds usually took around ten minutes to take effect, and she knew that ten minutes could feel like hours in that kind of pain.

She curled up in a ball on her bed and clapped her hands over her forehead as though trying to compress the pain.

"Hey, you okay?" The voice came from Sheila or whatever his name was who had just walked into the room with a concerned look on his face.

"Oh yes, I'm _splendid_." she said sarcastically. "How long have I been up here for?"

"Er, you just got here like, thirty seconds ago."

She groaned. This was going to be a long ten minutes.

-IOIOIOI-

"You sure you're okay to-"

"Yes, Shikarta. Just drive."

"But you were-"

"Drive."

He shut up and hit the accelerator, causing the car to lurch forward a bit more than was safe.

"Drive _safely_." She snapped. "I don't want to die prematurely thankyou very much."

He mumbled the word " troublesome" under his breath as he pulled out of the car park and onto the main road.

"Day two, here we go." He sighed, sounding as thrilled as a a lump of drying cement.

"Yay," Temari grumbled, matching his tone.

-IOIOIOI-

"SHRAPNEL. LOOK. AT. IT."

"I'm looking."

"WHY IS IT SO _CUTE_?!"

"It's actuall kinda... Gross."

She turned her head slowly to look at him.

"Sh-shicken tempura. Did you just. Call that _adorable_ sunfish. Gross?"

He gulped.

"Er, as in the French word 'gros' which means big. It's massive."

She glared at him.

"I'm sure." She turned back to the fish tank, mesmerized by the huge fish that swam around happily in the bluest water.

"How can anyone call you ugly?"

She pressed her hand to the glass and stared at it, hardly noticing the world going by.

The bustling of life.

The click of a shutter.

Wait-she _did_ notice the click of the shutter.

She turned and glared at the chauffeur who was awkwardly holding a polaroid camera in his hands.

"Er..."

"Shinatra, what'cha got there?"

"N-nothing."

The small printed photo that was sliding out from the camera begged to differ.

"Nothing?" She asked.

"Nothing incriminating." He confirmed. "The lighting was just good, I had to take a picture. For er- reference."

"For reference?"

"Yup. Reference."

She held her hand out and he hesitantly placed the image in her open palm.

"It's polite to tell people when you take a photo of them."

"I didn't want to ruin the moment. People look better when they're acting natural, not posing."

"I'm still offended. I thought you needed a camera?"

"A real one, this is an old thing I got from my dad. It works, but I can't email polaroids to people."

She handed the photo back to him without even looking at it.

"Do it again and I break your face, got it?"

He nodded and they moved on to the next fish tank.

-IOIOIOI-

"Sh-sh-shikunara! It-it-looked-at-me!"

"Yes, troublesome. Things tend to look for the source of loud noises, and in this case that would be you."

"Does that mean it likes me?"

"No, it means you're being loud." He saw the disappointed look in her eyes and softened. "I'm sure it does like you though."

She smiled at that point.

"For real?"

"Er, yeah. Sure."

She turned her attention back to the tiger and sighed.

"I do wish they had weasels in zoos. I know some people think it's cruel but... I just really want to see a real one, you know?"

He frowned at her.

"They're all over the place, how have you never seen one?"

"I don't leave the house very often."

"Woman, you were in the coffee shop _every damn day_ , what do you mean you don't leave the house?"

"Other than that I - wait. You _do_ remember me!"

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head awkwardly and blushed.

"Well yeah, you came every day. I have great memory."

She smiled slyly at him.

"Are you a stalker?" She asked teasingly.

He frowned.

"Of course I'm no-"

"Agreeing to drive me around so easily, noticing me, taking pictures, trying to lie about them, follo-" she counted the list on her fingers.

"I'm not a stalker, jeez woman. I just remember things, okay? You're kind of hard to forget, I mean-have you seen yourself?!"

She didn't know what to say. Was that a compliment?

"Who else wears four troublesome pigtails? And your stupid frown, and-"

"Shut it, Shirlanku, before I rip your guts out."

He gulped and looked away.

"Shikamaru. My name is Shikamaru. Always has been, always will be."

"You sure about that, Shikumara?"

"Yes."

She sighed, changing his name was getting annoying anyways.

"Okay, lets compromise. You don't piss me off and I'll call you by your name."

They shook on it and quickly pulled their hands away from each other.

-IOIOIOI-

"You're holding them upside down, woman."

"Shut up Shukamari."

"What did we agree on about the name calling?"

"We agreed that if you didn't piss me off, I'd call you by your real name. You just pissed me off, lazy ass."

He grunted and pulled the rented pair of binoculars out of her hands before giving them back the right way around.

"Better?"

"... Maybe."

They continued watching the swooping birds in silence, and when Temari turned back to him, she found him lying in the grass with his eyes shut.

Deciding against waking him, she simply stared at him for a while.

She didn't know why, but seeing him calmly rest his eyes the way he did stirred something in her. She was jealous of the certainty he possessed.

His eyes suddenly opened and she didn't look away. It wasn't like she was doing anything wrong.

The stared at each other for a while and his eyebrow jerked up quizzically.

"See something you like?"

"Mm, yes. I was just wondering what your punishment should be for sleeping on the job."

He gaped at her.

"My job is to drive you around. Nothing more nothing less."

She shrugged.

"I never said you could fall asleep on me."

"Yes, but you never specified that I couldn't either."

"Whatever," Temari snapped. "Just don't do it again, Shikamaru."

There was a pause.

"What, why are you smiling lazy ass?"

"You said my name correctly."

"N-no I didn't, Shuriken!"

"Ah, you're losing your touch, Troublesome."

"Whatever." She grumbled again, turning her attention back to the birds.

-IOIOIOI-

"A room for two please," she said to the receptionist who gave the pair a knowing smile.

"Separate beds," Temari hastily added, much to the receptionist's dismay.

After settling into their new room, Shikamaru got into his pyjamas as Temari lay down on her bed, flicking through her notebook.

"All yours," he said as he stepped out of the bathroom with his hair down and his pyjamas on.

She observed him for a second longer than was comfortable before getting to her feet and shuffling into the bathroom to shower.

She let the water get a tiny bit hotter than was comfortable as she cleaned herself-hot was always better than cold.

As she finished washing herself, she reached for her towel and began drying herself before-

 _Shit._

 _Shitshitshitshitshit._

She'd left her clothes in a pile on her bed.

 _Shit._

Taking a deep breath, she weighed out her options.

She could either ask him to leave them outside the door for her, but asking for favours showed weakness...

She could walk out and grab the stuff before dashing back in? Too risky, plus it might give off the impression that she was uncomfortable with her body.

She could just tell him to leave the room for a moment... Too rude.

She sighed and unlocked the door, making sure that the towel was secure around her and that she wasn't showing too much leg or too much cleavage.

"Don't look." She said in her most authoritative tone.

Reacting like a normal human, the idiot glanced up from his Polaroid album and stared at her for a moment, his eyes momentarily widening before his common sense kicked into action and reminded him that she'd said _not_ to look.

He blushed deeply and mumbled an apology as he flicked absentmindedly through the photo album once more.

She snatched her belongings up off the bed and stalked back into the bathroom, ignoring the heat that had made its way to her face.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Heyheyhey! Guess who got detention for reading Hamlet before school. =_= I used to be such a good pupil.**_

 _ **Anyways, next chapter, ayyyy. I actually got some lovely feedback for the last chapter, woohoo, thanks guys!**_

 _ **Idk if y'all want me to talk about the reviews or not, but I'll see for the next chapter. These updates won't be that regular for this story, but I hope to finish it before the end of December.**_

 _ **Okie, remember to follow/fave/review!**_

 _ **~Lee ;)**_


	3. Day 3- Slender

"Soooo, here's today's list."

She dropped the notebook onto his chest and headed out of the room to get her breakfast.

She'd made sure to take her medication that morning.

No more fiascos.

"More animals? Really?" He moaned when he got to the table where she was seated, happily spreading honey over her toast.

"Only the one this time."

"Isn't whale watching... Expensive?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

She shrugged.

"Where are you getting all this money from?"

Another shrug.

"I have my ways."

"I'm sure."

They finished eating and he held the notebook out to her.

"What does the second thing say?"

"You'll see."

"How can I take you somewhere when I don't even know where or what it is?"

"You'll see."

She climbed up to their room and hastily got changed.

The day's activities called for leggings and a hoodie.

Deciding not to be stupid, she pulled a black tank top on under her jumper. Just in case.

When he eventually got ready himself, she re-tightened her ponytails. She couldn't remember the last time she'd taken them out.

That said...

"Hey, Shandra Gupta, why do you wear your hair in a ponytail?"

He was too lazy to even shrug, so he answered with a grunt and a barely intelligible "cutting it is troublesome ".

-IOIOIOI-

They made their way to the coast.

Temari had never been this far from home before, and her excitement was beginning to show, even though she did her best to hide it.

"So where do you get the money from?"

"That's classified information. I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." Temari said with a straight face.

"No, seriously."

"I have a generous Sugar Daddy."

The car lurched slightly and he turned to stare at her incredulously.

Her face remained impassive.

"Th-that's a... Tell me that's a joke."

She shrugged.

"Nothing like a bit of humour to lighten the mood." She deadpanned.

Shikamaru refrained from asking any more personal questions until the edge of land was finally in sight.

Temari gasped when she saw the sea, she'd never seen it in real life before, and it was the most beautiful sight she'd ever laid her eyes upon.

"What, never seen water before?" The lazy little son of a bitch snorted as he drove on.

"Shut up. I've never seen the _sea_ before."

His eyes widened.

"Seriously?"

"Yes. Why would I be lying?" She said sarcastically. "Honestly, I've seen it before, sure. In _pictures._ I just...I didn't think it would be so... Massive?"

He shrugged.

"I guess I'm just used to it so it doesn't seem as magical to me anymore. That's crazy though. Why have you never been?"

"I just haven't. There wasn't ever any need."

"That's... Odd. Whatever floats your boat though." He pulled in and stepped out of the car, waiting for her to do the same so that he could lock the vehicle.

Not that anyone would ever be tempted to steal that heap of crap.

She hesitated before pulling on her backpack and following him.

This was the moment she'd dreamt of for years.

The sun was hidden behind clouds, but it was fairly mild out.

Even so, the beach was practically deserted, bar the odd runner or dog-walker.

"Can I just, um, walk on the beach for a little while before we book the whale spotting tour?"

"If you want I can go ahead and book it and I'll meet you on the beach?"

"Great."

The parted ways and Temari took to the sand.

She was raised in the desert, she knew the feeling of sand beneath her feet, but this vast swirling body of water that engulfed the horizon before her was a different matter altogether.

It almost terrified her _. Almost_.

She kicked off her runners and socks, allowing her feet to sink into the sand as she walked towards the sea.

She didn't know how to swim, but that wasn't going to stop her from rolling up the bottom of her leggings and taking one tentative step after another.

The water was horribly cold, and the waves were cruelly unpredictable.

She loved it.

She took another step. And another.

It was above her knees now. She was drunk on a strange elation that came only with the joyful discovery of something wonderful.

The sea was like magic.

She was waist deep in the water now, the waves weren't terribly strong, so she hadn't much to fear as she took step after thrilling step deeper into the immense sea.

Her jumper was getting soaked through as she waded further out, her ribcage was almost completely submerged.

Just a few more steps until...

"WOMAN!" She heard from the distance.

She turned and saw a panicked Shikamaru waving frantically from the edge of the water.

She raised a single hand out of the water and waved back at him, only holding her middle finger up at him.

He made an exasperated expression before going back a few paces and sitting down in the sand, watching her as she turned back and continued walking.

She was on the tips of her toes now, and she knew she'd have to turn back eventually, but she was reluctant to leave behind the feeling of ecstasy she was getting as she half-floated half-walked through the sea.

She allowed herself another five minutes in the water before turning back and making her way to shore.

-IOIOIOI-

"You're lucky I booked the later time slot for the tour, woman otherwise we'd be late." Shikamaru grumbled when she made her way towards him.

He opened one eye as he sensed her standing over him. The other quickly shot open as he realised that she was completely covered in sea water.

"Woman, why are you pretending to be a sponge?"

"Er, I just got a little carried away."

He looked her over and raised an eyebrow at her.

"A _little?_ You don't say."

"I think I left a spare change of clothes in your car."

He sighed and lifted himself up off the ground, dusting off some of the grains of sand which clung to him.

"Lets go then."

They walked in a silence which was occasionally interrupted by a snort or a muffled laugh from Shikamaru as he cast sidelong glances in her direction.

Temari was practically sagging under the weight of her hoodie, so she pulled it off, praising her past self for putting a tank top on underneath it.

"Stop laughing, idiot." She snapped as they were half way there.

He turned his head to say something witty but stopped short when he realised that she was one layer of clothing more naked than she had been the last time he'd looked at her.

Staring for a moment longer than he'd probably intended, he shut his mouth and looked away as a dark crimson colour tinted his ears and cheeks.

"What? See something you like?" She asked sarcastically, dragging out any advantage she had over him.

Teasing was fun.

"Yeah. Right." He said, "Like I'd be attracted to a psychopathic animal enthusiast."

"Your blush begs to differ."

"I'm not blushing, woman."

"Look at me then."

He slowly turned his head towards her and tried to wear a mask of boredom.

"Yeah. You're blushing."

"Maybe if you were dressed more decently..."

She punched him in the arm and continued walking, they were almost at the car at this point.

-IOIOIOI-

"Whale watching, done!"

Temari was still slightly dizzy from being on a boat for so long, but she wasn't going to use that as an excuse to cling to the chauffeur, not that she wanted to anyways.

She shuffled on, carefully placing one foot in front of the other as she walked-she could handle her alcohol better than her brothers, no way was she going to let a little boat ride get her down.

"Woman. The car is the other way."

"Shut up. I may be directionally challenged, but I don't need no man to tell me where to go or what my place is."

"Fine, have fun being lost." He shrugged, smiling gently when she caught up to him and didn't argue the fact that he was in the right.

"Now was that so hard?"

"Shut it."

They got to the car and climbed in, both equally exhausted and drained from the day's activities.

"Only one thing left before we get to the hotel."

He started the ignition and turned to her.

"Where to, captain?"

"There should be a park around five minutes from here if you go left and then go straight at the crossroads."

He nodded and drove on.

"And what are we doing exactly at this park?"

Temari gave him an evil smile and reached into her backpack, pulling out eight sheets of paper.

"Scaring the shit out of people."

-IOIOIOI-

Once the park was in sight, Shikamaru pulled over and the two of them walked in.

It was getting fairly dark so not many people were out and about.

"You are pure evil, Woman."

"Stop calling me that, Lazy-Ass."

"It's revenge."

She took out her heavy-duty stapler and placed the first sheet of paper up against an old tree.

After the ' click ' of the stapler, she stood back and observed her work.

It was quite simply written " Help Me," and had a line scribbled underneath it.

They went around the park and stapled the remaining seven pages up to trees, benches or signs.

As she put up the final one (Which read "Leave me alone" with a dark figure drawn beside it) she exhaled deeply and turned to Shikamaru.

"All done."

"You made me drive you to a park just so that you could put up Slender Pages?"

"Yup."

He shook his head and sighed.

"Troublesome."

-IOIOIOI-

"Shikamaru?"

"Yeah?"

"Today was fun."

"Yeah."

They found the hotel they were looking for and made their way inside to book a room for the night.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" The receptionist sighed. "We have no double rooms! We can offer a room with a double bed if..."

She saw the look that Temari gave her and changed tac.

"I can discount a double room for you miss, that's the best I can offer you at this moment in time."

"Fine," Temari sighed, giving in more easily than she'd hoped.

They walked up to the room in silence and got dressed out of sight of each other before climbing silently into bed and falling asleep back-to-back without exchanging another word.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Salutations! I based the Slender Page moments off of the time my friend and I snuck into a park and stapled slender pages to tress. Also, whale watching sounds AMAZING.**_

 _ **I hope y'all like the story so far :) I won't be going through reviews cos I REALLY need to start studying, but thank you sososososo much for all of the reviews/ follows and Faves!**_

 _ **Charlieeee out!**_


	4. Day 4- Reflex

Temari's integrated alarm woke her at half past seven.

She stirred lightly in her half-sleeping state and opened her eyes, allowing them to adjust to the early morning haze.

When she turned to face the wall that she was leaning against, she was surprised to see that the wall was in fact another individual.

Reacting completely on instinct, she slammed the other person away from her, except considering the fact that she was only after waking up, her muscles were still a little tired, so it was more like a rough shove.

That said, the other person (whom she realised was her chauffeur when she was halfway through kicking him out of the bed) was light and vulnerable in their sleeping state, so the attack had its intended effect.

Just as it dawned on her that the person was Shikamaru and not some weird dude who had crawled into her bed during the night, gravity took over and finished the job, causing him to fall to the ground with a dull "thump" noise.

"What woman the what why what did I do what?"

"Shit, sorry."

He sat up and stared at her.

" ' shit sorry ' ?" He asked, laughing in a high pitch. " 'SHIT SORRY ' ?! Woman, you could have killed me!"

"I'm sorry. Impulses, y'know."

"You really do act before you think."

"If it weren't for instinct, the human race wouldn't be as developed as it is now."

"And if intelligence had been valued sooner, we'd be a far more developed species by now."

She huffed and offered a hand to him, helping him back onto the bed.

"You don't know that for sure."

"Yes. I do."

She sighed and lay back down.

"Whatever genius. Hand me my notebook." She mumbled as she closed her eyes.

After a few seconds shuffling, she felt a light weight being dropped onto her chest.

"You're welcome," he said before she'd even opened her eyes.

"Thanks."

She flicked to the appropriate page and scanned it quickly.

"What does the weather look like?" She asked.

Shikamaru shrugged as he lay down beside her and glanced at the page.

"Go check the weather." She demanded.

"I'm your chauffeur, not your bitch."

"Yes, how many chauffeurs sleep in the same bed as the person hiring them and paying for their lodgings?"

"I'd say a few."

"Lazy-Ass, check the damn weather."

He rolled his eyes and stood up again, padding over to the window and shifting the curtain to one side.

"Not great. Drizzle. Looks cold. Overcast and the likes."

"Okay. That's alright then."

"Why, what are today's plans?"

"Well, I allowed for one blank day which I could fill in whenever it was raining or if my chauffer died or whatever, so we can have that today. The only problem is..."

"Is...?"

"Well, it means we won't be changing hotel, so unless you'd rather move to a different place..."

"Nah, this is fine. Unless you're going to dramatically wake me up again, in which case we should definitely change."

"Shut up."

He laughed and sat back down on the bed.

"So what's on the rainy day schedule?"

"Pick up a hobby and night club."

"... Night club?"

"Yes, night club. Would you like me to say it again?"

"Why have you planned to go to a night club?"

"Because reasons, Shikamaru. Why have you planned to exist?"

"Actually, my existence didn't come about out of my own volition."

"Shut it, Lazy-Ass."

"So what hobby do you plan to pick up?"

"I don't know. Teach me something. Anything."

"Um... Do you play chess?"

"No. It may have escaped your notice, but I'm not an elderly man."

Shikamaru sighed and made his way towards his bag, pulling out a small foldable chess travel set, magnetic and all.

"You're kidding me."

"You said, and I quote: Something, anything. Here is your 'something'."

She sighed and watched as he set the game up, naming each of the pieces and their moves as he placed them down onto the black and white squares.

"Lets go for a test round,"

He pointed out any mistakes she made and recommended a few moves at certain points in the round, but she found herself enjoying the game.

After two test rounds, they played a real game which resulted in a defeated Temari in less than five minutes.

Not letting that dishearten her, she quickly replaced the pieces where they belonged.

"Again."

She could see that she was getting better as the matches lasted longer and longer, but she still hadn't managed to beat him yet, much to her dismay.

"I'm hungry," she said after what could easily have been their sixteenth game. "Lets get breakfast."

He got up and went to the bathroom to shower as Temari picked out the clothes she was going to wear. Figuring she'd only be leaving for breakfast, she decided on a hoodie and a pair of jeans, she would shower before heading out that night.

"Ready to go?" Shikamaru asked as he stepped out of the bathroom, dressed and all.

"Sure."

-IOIOIOI-

"AGAIN?!"

"I may have forgotten to mention this, but I was chess champion in my high school."

She rolled her eyes.

"Oh my, I feel threatened." She sighed. "Considering the fact I've only picked this up today, I'd like to think I'm doing fairly well."

"You are," he said, surprising her by sounding genuine. "I'm actually impressed by how fast you got the hang of it."

"You shouldn't doubt me." Temari snapped.

"I wasn't doubting you, I just didn't realise you were more intelligent than I thought."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? Do I seem stupid?"

"No, but you don't seem to be the highly intelligent type either. You seem average. But you're a good bit above that, it would seem."

Temari didn't know wether she should feel more annoyed or proud.

She decided to punch him in the arm (fairly hard) and thank him at the same time.

She smiled widely at his annoyed reaction and he seemed to hesitate and hold back whatever words he was planning on saying after he saw her expression.

"Temari?" He asked, sounding suddenly serious.

"Yes?"

"Why are you doing this?"

"Playing chess?"

"No, this," he held up his arms. "This whole trip?"

She shook her head.

"That doesn't matter at all." She said with a tone of finality, putting an end to the conversation before it began.

He opened his mouth to continue with his case, but Temari held up her hand.

"Shikamaru, I mean no offense when I say this, but why I'm doing this has nothing to do with you. Hell, getting friendly with you wasn't a part of the plan to begin with, so I don't want all of this to fall apart before we finish the list, okay? Please don't ask any more questions about that."

He nodded solemnly.

"Alright."

-IOIOIOI-

"I'm going to take a shower, entertain yourself for a while."

She took a bundle of clothes with her into the bathroom, no way was she going to forget them again.

"Kay," he said, reaching into his bag for a photo album.

She allowed the water to scald her a tiny bit as she showered and she dried herself off with a big fluffy towel.

Sifting through the clothes she'd brought, she decided not to wear any bright colours. She'd been wearing vibrant tops and hoodies every day so far, so she picked out a simple grey t-shirt dress which she wore with fishnet tights and a pair of Converse. She wasn't big on heels.

She considered taking her hair down, but decided against it-she prefered having it tied up.

After a quick application of mascara (She didn't trust herself with eyeliner) and some dark lipstick, she looked herself over in the mirror and smirked.

She washed up pretty damm well when she made an effort.

"Righteo, lets go," she said a she left the bathroom.

Shikamaru didn't look up from where he was seated on the bed and simply nodded before slowly closing the photo album.

"Sure,"

He glanced up and raised an eyebrow when he saw what she was wearing.

"You never struck me as a dress kind of girl."

"Shows how little you know me," she smirked as she pulled on a leather jacket and re-tightened her hair.

"You good?" She asked, turning around and expecting to see him with his shoes on and ready to leave, instead she found him looking at her with a thoughtful expression.

She cocked her head to the side and put her hand on her hip, waiting for him to snap out of his haze, which he did fairly quickly.

"Sorry, what?"

"I asked you if you were ready to go?"

He stood up and pulled on his shoes.

"Yup, all good."

-IOIOIOI-

The rain had eased up a little as they left the hotel and was replaced with a misty haze.

"Where to?" Shikamaru asked as they walked to the car.

"Wherever the closest night club is. A pub or bar will do too. I just want a drink to be honest."

After a few minutes of driving, they settled for a simple looking pub which wasn't completely empty, but looked to have some seats available.

They walked in and sat on a couple of the taller stools by the counter, talking about something or another.

It was pleasant.

The bartender came to them and asked what they wanted.

"I'll have a Guinness and Black," Shikamaru said, which caused Temari to snort.

"I'll just have a Guinness. Straight please."

When the bartender left to get their drinks, Shikamaru turned to Temari and frowned.

"What was that about?"

Temari chuckled.

" _Guinness and black_? How weak are you?"

Shikamaru shrugged.

"I just don't like bitter tastes that much. Blackberries are nice, and besides, I'm driving. I don't want to have anything too strong."

Temari nodded and kept her gaze on him, smiling lightly.

Their drinks arrived and Temari drank hers slowly. She wanted to make the night last, and downing a pint would not cater to that.

After she finished her pint, she called for some water to help it go down.

She was no lightweight, but she wasn't some steel-livered lush either. She just knew her limit and understood the art of drinking without getting drunk.

Her approach to bars was simple: Eat beforehand, drink water between alcohol and take it slow.

The holy trinity of nights out.

A second beer and a cider later, she decided to ask for something stronger. Shikamaru, who wasn't even halfway through his first drink, looked startled when he heard her place her order.

"Temari, you sure that's a good idea?"

"Sshh, it's just a little bitta rum. Calm down."

He rolled his eyes and took another small sip of his Guinness.

"And you say you're not an old man?"

Her drink arrived, and she downed it with far less inhibition than the last few.

"Okay. That's enough, it's only midnight Temari."

"Hush, kid. I can handle it." Temari said, her smile wide. "I can."

She frowned as she thought of what she was going to say.

"I can... Yeah.. I can handle it."

He shook his head and said nothing.

She stood from her stool.

"I'll be back in a sec, I just need to pee."

She shuffled to the toilets and surprised herself by being dizzy as she walked.

When she got back, she found that her seat had been taken by someone else.

Scowling, she made her way towards the person and slid between her and an uncomfortable looking Shikamaru.

"Hello there," she said as she looked at the girl.

She was wearing a (very, very) tight red dress which showed more skin than Temari had ever seen on another human being.

"Oh," she said, as she continued to stare at the girl. "Hell _o_ there,"

She gave the pretty girl her winning smile, to which the stranger gave her a disgusted look before standing and leaving.

Temari frowned and regained her seat.

"That was rude. I was only hitting on her."

Shikamaru stared at her for a moment.

"Er, thanks?" He said. "She was being kinda... Clingy."

"No prob bro." Temari grinned.

"Er, I just need to go to the toilet."

He excused himself and left. A quarter of his drink was still in his pint glass, and Temari considered drinking it, but thought the better of it.

"Hey babe," came a voice from behind her.

She swivelled in her chair and smiled at the older man.

"Hello stranger," she said in a sweet voice.

"You look lonely," he said, sliding into Shikamaru's seat.

Temari didn't let her smile falter, she knew what men like that were like.

"Do I now?" She asked, sounding concerned.

The man licked his lips and nodded. His eyes were nowhere near her own.

"Very lonely."

Temari shrugged.

"I'm not lonely." She dropped her voice and leaned in closer to him, whispering. "The voices keep me company..."

The man frowned but didn't move away, clearly thinking that a deranged girl would be easier to bag.

"Well babe, I can keep you company too." He murmured, placing a hand on her thigh and smiling a charming smile.

She giggled and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Is that so?" She asked, biting her lip for effect.

"Mm," his face was getting closer and she seized the moment, grabbing his shirt collar and pulling his face closer to hers to give the impression that she was speeding things up for him, but she stopped inches from his face and breathed heavily.

"Leave me the fuck alone." She let go of his collar and he stumbled a bit as nothing was supporting him at that point.

He looked confused for a moment, but then he glared at her as he walked away.

"Fucking bitch," he grumbled as he stalked off.

She smiled and waved when he turned back to her.

When Shikamaru came back, she ordered another drink for herself before they headed off.

Shikamaru's driving was slightly lopsided, but there weren't many people on the road bar them.

They headed up to their room, laughing a little when Temari stumbled over her own feet.

"SSSHHHH," She laughed loudly.

"Shh," Shikamaru corrected. "Shhh,"

She laughed loudly at that and they got to their room.

She pulled on her pyjamas, not warning him as she took off her dress and slipped into shorts and a tank top.

"What?" She asked when she saw him staring at her.

He just raised an eyebrow at her as though her question had been dumb.

"Nothing, troublesome."

"Heyy, that's mean," Temari pouted as she sat herself down on the bed. "You're mean."

He nodded and sat down beside her.

"Yeah. Sure. Now go to sleep, woman."

She crossed her arms and refused to lie down.

"Make me," she demanded.

He hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her down onto the bed in such a way that they were like two spoons stacked away in a drawer.

She chuckled when he kept his arm where it was.

"Temari. Stop laughing and sleep. Please. I'm exhausted."

She leaned back against him and held onto his arm as she felt his second one slip underneath her so that he was hugging her.

It felt nice to seem liked, and she fell asleep with that thought in her mind.

How nice it would be to have that forever.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Heeyyyy. I had an audition today for some show, and I only did it cos my friend asked me to play the guitar whilst she sang, and I can never say no to her. Oh well, it went pretty well though, in spite of my lack of enthusiasm. What bothers me though is that my Ex was one of the panelists, so she might pettily reject us (Which is funny cos my friend ALSO dated her. Ah, fun.)**_

 _ **Anyways, a cultural note about this chapter:**_

 _ **Guinness and Black**_ _ **is basically Guinness with some blackberry juice diluted into it to make it weaker.**_

 _ **Okie. I swear swear swear SWEAR that I'll get onto the reviews, but my exams start TOMORROW and I seriously need to start studying. Thank you all sososo much for All the support!**_

 _ **Please follow/fave/review!**_

 _ **~Lee ;)**_


	5. Day 5-Morning

The first thing that felt off was her legs. She felt that she was still wearing tights.

Then there was her bra. How could she have forgotten to take it off?

And then there was the fact that there was an arm draped over her waist.

No, not draped. _Wrapped_.

Two arms wrapped tightly around her waist, holding her in a comforting embrace.

She wasn't sure how to react.

She wanted to turn to double check that it was who she hoped, no _, thought_ it might be.

She shuffled slightly in an effort to turn her head, but in doing so, she felt him begin to stir.

She quickly shut her eyes to make it seem as though she wasn't awake yet. Why? She didn't know.

She heard the other person wake up and listened as his heart rate suddenly increased as his eyes blinked open.

She resisted the urge to snort when his grip simply tightened around her after a few moments of freezing up.

She seized the moment to turn, doing her best to make it seem as though she was still sleeping.

Once she'd turned around in the person's arms, she felt their grip loosen ever so slightly as the person moved back a little.

After a moment, she decided to stop beating around the bush and just look to see who it was, but before she could take any action on that, she felt fingers brushing away her bangs from her eyes before coming to rest on the back of her neck.

She had never been religious, but she was practically _praying_ for it to be Shikamaru who was holding her like that.

The person let out a deep breath before holding her tighter for a split second and letting go completely to turn the other way.

Frustrated, Temari opened her eyes and glared at his back.

"Rude," she commented, her voice cracking lightly as she spoke.

He jumped and turned to face her.

"T-Temari, I er-"

"You?"

He gave her an annoyed look and huffed.

"I don't know."

She nodded and scooted in closer to him.

"I'm cold, you're being promoted to second blanket. Keep me warm."

After hesitating for a moment, he tentatively placed his arm back where it had been before and held her close.

She liked feeling like she belonged somewhere.

Socks went in the drawer, photos went in an album. Fruit went in a bowl, and Temari?

Well she fit right there in Shikamaru's arms.

For the time being, at least.

-IOIOIOI-

Temari had grown quite used to things the way they were.

From a very young age, all things had been decided for her.

Her name, her outfits, the school she attended, the subjects she studied...

She never had a say in how her life was mapped out. Temari lived by the decisions that were made for her, not the ones she made herself.

To put it quite simply, she was living another person's life.

Her father lived vicariously through her success, and became a compass for what was wrong and right in the world around her.

The only problem was that she had never really liked him, so by living out his plan, she was going directly against her will, but as previously mentioned, she never had any say in how her life was mapped out.

So when the man passed away, Temari experienced freedom for the first time ever.

Of course, there were always limits to how much she could do, and her social worker ( Kind as he was ) could be fairly protective of her and her brothers.

But Baki had something that her father never had: Baki loved the three children as though they were his own.

Life was good, and at sixteen years of age, Temari was finally able to breathe how she wanted and move where she wished.

But of course her genes weren't done with her yet.

It started with a migraine.

And then another.

Five a day.

A constant ringing thumping pain in her temple.

Out came the family medical history and boom.

Her fate was sealed before she was even damn born.

Her days were numbered.

No, not her days to live.

Rather...

-IOIOIOI-

"Temari?"

"Uh huh?"

"I know you asked me not to ask, but it kills me not to know why-"

"Why I'm doing this trip?"

"... Yeah."

Temari nodded. They had to get up for breakfast, but telling the story meant staying like that for a little longer, and she quite liked being there, in the safety of his arms.

He'd find out eventually, why not just tell him there and then?

-IOIOIOI-

"Temari?"

"Kankurō, leave me alone."

"You should seriously see a doctor or-"

"No, I shouldn't. Leave me alone."

"Temari." It was Baki's voice this time. "I'm taking you to the hospital right. Now."

-IOI-

After a brief checkup, the doctor instantly asked to see the family medical history and quickly confirmed his suspicions that Temari had a generic condition, retinitis pigmentosa to be precise.

Her world was being plunged into total darkness.

-IOI-

"Temari, you need to practice-"

"No. No I don't. I'll have plenty of time to be blind when I _am_ blind. Closing my eyes and walking around with blindfold isn't going to do _shit_ to prepare me."

"I know but-"

"No. _You. Don't. Know. Shit_." She snapped. " _You're_ not the one who's going blind, _you're_ not the one who has no future, _you're_ not the one who's going to live in TOTAL FUCKING DARKNESS GAARA!"

She froze the moment she saw the look in her little brother's eyes.

She'd never yelled angrily at Gaara before, and he looked _... Sad_. An emotion she hadn't seen on his face in years.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled before hurrying out of the kitchen.

She wasn't the only one who had to pull through this, it was hard on everyone.

Sure, she had it worse, but that didn't mean the others weren't suffering as well.

Kankurō was cooped up in his room and painted his face less, even his puns were bad.

Gaara looked more downcast than before and Baki seemed more stressed than any of them had ever seen before.

She wasn't being fair to them, she knew, so she pulled out a pen and paper and began writing a list of things that she wanted to see and do before _IT_ happened. She called _IT_ the Darkness.

She let the list be her source of motivation to keep her from getting angry or snappy.

The list was her source of calm.

And before she could put it off any longer, she decided to act. She looked around for people to drive her and eventually settled for some barista. After months of going to the coffee shop to make sure he wasn't some psychopath, she told herself to just go for it.

What did she have to lose?

-IOIOIOI-

Shikamaru said nothing for a moment.

A long moment.

"So..." His voice eventually broke the silence. "You _aren't_ going to die?"

"Er... Not anytime soon, no." Temari answered hesitantly. Why was he asking her that?

He let out a long breath before giving a relieved laugh.

He held her closer as he continued to laugh.

"Thank fuck."

She was startled-she'd never heard him swear before.

"Were you _worried_ I was going to die?!" She asked incredulously.

"Yeah, the whole list and getting it done 'before I can't' thing. Oh good _God_ that is a relief."

Temari chuckled and rested her head against his chest.

"Nope, looks like you're stuck with me, Shikamaru."

"I'll manage."

They stayed comfortably silent for a few minutes before Shikamaru spoke up again.

"I never asked you, but what's your dream job?"

"I can't get a job when I'm bli-"

"Screw that. If you could be anything in the world, occupation wise, what would you be?"

"Don't laugh when I answer you."

"I won't."

"I'd kill to be an astronaut."

There was a pause.

"An astronaut?"

"Yup."

He didn't laugh, but she heard the smile.

"You like stars?" He asked.

"No shit."

"Have you ever seen the aurora borealis?"

She frowned.

"The northern lights," he explained.

"I know what they are, I just fail to see their relevance in this context."

He shrugged.

"It's stuff in the sky at night."

She chuckled again and shook her head.

"No, I've never seen them before."

"Well, one of the days after this trip, I'll take you to see them, okay? I'll show you a weasel as well. We get loads of them at my family compound."

She was shocked by what he was saying, and numbly nodded.

"That'd be nice. Thanks."

She angled her head up so that she could meet his eyes.

"No need to thank me."

She suddenly became aware of how closely pressed to him she was. She didn't dislike it. Not one bit.

"Temari?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you asked me."

"I'm glad you accepted."

Some things in this world just happen.

Like gravity, or cloud formations.

When you wake up in the morning and find yourself in your bed, under the covers, your first thought isn't: Why is gravity holding me in place? Or: How is the light from the sun traveling in straight lines to illuminate the streets outside?

To go back to the point at hand, some things just happen. Not necessarily spontaneously, but in such a way that the whys and wherefores are completely and utterly irrelevant and do nothing to change the outcome.

This was one of those moments, when Temari found herself leaning forward and pressing her lips gently against his.

It just happened, and she was glad it did, because suddenly he was holding her closer still, and kissing her with such an urgency that she could practically feel his relief and his desire as he slid his tongue into her mouth and deepened the kiss with virtually no inhibition.

She was seated now-another thing that somehow happened- and she was holding him back, her hand behind his neck and the other supporting herself as she inclined backwards a little.

One of his hands was on her leg and the other was busy taking our her hair ties.

"Shikamaru," she whispered as they broke apart and he looked at her. "We should-"

She stopped talking when she saw that he was crying. She hurriedly sat up and looked at him.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

He rubbed his eyes and shook his head.

"Nothing I just..." He sighed. "I'm just so relieved. God, I was so worried."

She smiled reassuringly and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere." She said and brought her lips to his again, mildly aware of the salty flavour of his tears as they continued where they left off.

Breakfast could wait.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Otp wake up spooning cliché, check!**_

 _ **Hehehe, I've finally got around to *some* of the reviews *at last***_

 _ **Honestly though, this is the best kind of procrastination, I must say.**_

 _ **Whattadragg: Hehe, two in one good human, happy Christmas, your prayers have been answered;)**_

 _ **Silvermoon6817: I would totally pay Shikamaru to be my babysitter (for me, not my imaginary kids) thankyou for the review, bean!**_

 _ **Lucia Ten: Okay, okay so I saw your name and my first thought was that you were this girl I used to be friends with (her name was Lucia you see) and I started panicking, but I don't think it's you, so hello stranger and thank you for the review! I hope you liked the chapter!**_

 _ **Imma leave it at that and I'll post the next chapter when I finish my exams, I'll get around to more reviews then, so if I didn't mention you this time, I probably will next time!**_

 _ **Thank you for all the support! Please follow/fave/review for a high five!**_

 _ **~Lee ;)**_


	6. Day 5- Cliffside

It was a small comfort to feel another person's arm wrapped across her waist.

To feel someone else's breath feather across her shoulders as she thought. She wasn't sleeping, and neither was he-she could feel the small patterns which he lightly traced on the small sliver of exposed skin where her tank top had inched up slightly.

That was all she needed. That one tiny touch.

And she was melting. Butterflies-no, it wasn't butterflies. It was more like a black hole-took over.

An empty longing feeling. A bottomless pit that she wanted to fill but wasn't sure how to go about it.

They had stopped kissing about an hour ago, and just lay there saying nothing, doing nothing.

Just existing comfortably.

But she wanted more.

She sighed and sat up.

"Lets get breakfast, it's pretty late already."

He nodded and got up a little while after.

"I'll see you down there, I'm just going to shower."

Temari changed into more appropriate clothing as he went to the bathroom, scolding her past self for not taking off her tights.

Snatching up her small notebook, she made her way towards the breakfast buffet on the ground floor and made herself some toast.

"Hey," Shikamaru greeted as he made his way towards the table she'd seated herself at.

"Hey."

He went to grab some cereal and when he came back, Temari slid the notebook to him.

"Only one thing today,"

He read it briefly and gave a nod.

"Seems fun." He said.

"Yup."

They ate in an awkward silence and then went to their room to get their bags before leaving.

Shikamaru went to get the car as Temari paid the bill.

"Off we go," she said in a less enthusiastic voice than intended.

He gave her a confused look before turning onto the main road and setting off towards their destination.

They drove in silence.

-IOIOIOI-

She stood at the top of the cliff and gazed out at the sight that surrounded her. To call it breathtaking wouldn't even begin to describe it.

Waves crashed below and seagulls' cries filled the air around her as the sharp ocean smell took over her senses.

"Look," Shikamaru said, pointing at the sky.

"What?" There was only a pair of seagulls swooping acrobatically, but nothing amazing by the standards the view had set.

"The clouds."

She looked beyond the seagulls and took in a sharp breath when she realised that the clouds were in fact stunning.

For someone who spent a lot of her time with the wind at her hands and her gaze on the sun, she rarely stopped to look beyond the birds and at the clouds.

She was missing out.

She was tired from hiking up the steep mountain side, so she lay her head back on the grass and looked at the clouds, which she could no longer tear her eyes away from.

"Thank you,"

He said nothing as he settled himself down beside her.

Her eyes didn't leave the clouds as they drifted overhead and she didn't realise that she'd fallen asleep until she was woken up.

What woke her up has a large drop of water landing right on her forehead.

Her eyes shot open and she sat up suddenly.

It was eerily quiet, the seagulls no longer made any noise.

"Shikamaru!" The idiot had fallen asleep by her side.

Damn, he looked cute when he slept.

"Lazy Ass, wake the fuck up."

He groggily opened his eyes and the moment they made contact with hers, he smiled.

And then he felt it too.

" _Shit_ ," he commented.

"You don't say?"

They stood up and he slung his backpack over his shoulder.

"Lets go."

Slowly making their way down hill, they clung to each other in an effort not to slip and fall.

The ground was saturated and it began to rain move heavily.

"Don't rush so much woman, you'll make us _both_ fall!"

"Shikamaru, it took us an hour to hour up here without the rain, I can't afford to get sick right now!" She growled.

"If you break your leg, you _definitely_ won't be able to finish half of the crap on your list."

She was offended that he'd called her list "crap" but she saw the sense in his words and slowed her pace down slightly, letting go of his arm that she'd been clinging to.

"Temari, you should ho-"

"I don't need your help." She snapped.

"Fine, have fun being dead." He grumbled, pausing for a moment before adding "sorry."

She ignored him.

"Look, Tema-"

"Stop talking, it's distracting."

She accelerated ahead of him so that she wouldn't have to see what facial expression he was making.

They stomped in silence and the moment Temari started sneezing, she felt something drape over her shoulders.

"What the-"

"Stop talking, you'll distract yourself."

She turned around to glare at Shikamaru, who wore a satisfied smirk.

"You're welcome."

She looked down at her neck and saw a green knitted scarf wrapped around it.

"Thanks" she mumbled, shrugging her shoulders to bring the soft material closer to her. "It's really warm."

"It suits you."

"Of _course_ it does, I'm fabulous."

He snorted and she looked over her shoulder to sneer at him when her foot hit off of a root underfoot and sent her toppling a few feet downhill.

It wasn't a great distance, but she hit off of trees, undergrowth and branches before coming to a sudden halt when she came in direct contact with a large coniferous tree from head on.

Shit. She held back a cry of pain and struggled to get to her knees, but her head hurt and she was dizzy.

"TEMARI!" Shikamaru came rushing towards her and crouched down beside her.

"Shit, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I've never been better," she hissed through gritted teeth.

He helped her into a standing position and hooked her arm over his shoulder.

"If you hadn't been rushing..." He grumbled.

"Ex _cuse_ me-AAH!"

The moment she'd applied weight to her right leg, a pain shot up from her ankle.

Shikamaru instantly laid her back down on the ground and rolled up the bottom of her leggings.

"Er, um-"

"What is it?!" Temari asked, beginning to panic.

"Well, er, you're bleeding and um..."

"And?"

He coughed.

"It looks really sore!" He moaned.

"Um... Are you squeamish around blood?" She asked, suddenly noticing that he was looking anywhere but at her ankle.

"Yeah... Maybe..."

She laughed out loud and pulled her legging cuff down again.

"Lets just hurry back to the car, I'll patch myself up when we get there."

She began to get to her feet when Shikamaru turned his back to her and crouched down.

"At least let me carry you."

-IOIOIOI-

He unlocked the car and opened the back door to sit her down.

Once Temari could get a good look at her leg in the feeble light that the car offered, she found that the cut was a lot uglier than she'd anticipated.

"Ah..."

"Yeah..."

Shikamaru went to the back and took out a tin from the boot of his car.

"My friend always insists I keep a first aid kit with me at all times, guess it came in handy."

He handed her some cotton pads and a bottle of alcohol based disinfectant.

After wiping away the dried blood with water, she applied the disinfectant, tentatively at first, before just mercilessly dunking it on the cut. Pain was easier to deal with than infections.

Still wincing, she reached for the bandage that he held in his hand, but he didn't hand it to her.

"Let me," he said, crouching down in front of her.

She dangled her legs out of the car, one of them resting on his leg as he began wrapping it around the cut, cringing slightly until he'd fully hidden the bleeding part.

"Okay, now your hands,"

He gently wiped at the smaller cuts and grazes, but she refused to let him put a bandage on them.

"But it looks sor-"

"It's just some tiny little cuts, Shikamaru. Get over it!"

She made to stand up again, but he rested a hand on her shoulder and suddenly stared at her.

"Your face..."

"What? Has it somehow become prettier?"

He answered by reaching across her inside the car and angling the rear-view mirror so that she could see herself.

"Oh shit."

Her forehead was grazed and her eye was a little bit swollen, to top it all off, her lip was coated in dried blood.

Again, she let him wipe away the blood, he was less squeamish with the smaller cuts. When he'd finished, he took out a tiny packaged plaster and stuck it on her forehead.

"You're _kidding_ me," she snorted.

"Nope."

She lay down across the three back seats and closed her eyes.

"What time is it?" She asked.

"Half nine."

"Lets just stay here. We're ages away from any hotels."

He said nothing, but she felt him move her legs slightly to tuck them into the car before shutting the car door.

When he walked to the front of the car, he climbed in and locked the doors from the inside.

"Night,"

"Night."

* * *

 **A/N: HELLLLOOOOO!**

 **I've had to edit this twice cos my phone glitched on me ;(**

 **Okie, I have returned from the land of exams, and I have brought you another chapter of Polaroids! *mild applause ***

 **Righteo, imma go through some of these fabulously fabulous reviews!**

 **AyingChan ~ yisss your guesses were so good! Most people just jumped to the conclusion that I was gonna kill her off but you were thinking outside the box, gold star! Thanks for the review!**

 **Simone 137~ IT WAS TRUE LOOOOOOOOVVVVVEEEEEEE! Hehe, thanks for reviewing X3**

 **Mirin Hanashi~ Why thankyou! I hope you'll continue to enjoy it! More twists ahead!**

 **Okie dokie, I need to go hibernate, but I shall see y'all in the next chapter!**

 **Thank you for all the reviews and exam wishes!**

 **please follow fave and review!**

 **~Lee :)**


	7. Day 6- Caution

When she woke up with a crick in her neck, her first thought was to sit up and stretch, but upon attempting said manoeuvre, she found that there wasn't enough room in the small car to do so.

The sky was still dark, and while she was aware that it was November and therefore darker in general, she still found herself surprised by the fact that the sun hadn't yet begun to make its presence known to those of the waking world.

She glanced at her watch and saw that it was only half five, and that waking Shikamaru would be fairly cruel.

She sat forward and peeked at the man in question who was seated in the driver's seat, wearing a slight frown and snoring lightly.

Temari rested her cheek on the passenger seat and gazed at him. His resting bitch face was perfectly in place, even as he slept.

She hadn't noticed before, but his eyebrows were fairly scrawny for a guy, and his nose was narrow too. His lips were thin, and his hair was soft, and _why was she touching his hair?_

Did it matter?

It was soft, that was what mattered, unlike her messy straw-like nest. She made a mental note to ask him what conditioner he used.

She felt a hand close over her own and she didn't start.

"Hey," she mumbled as she continued threading her fingers through his hair.

"Hmm," he mumbled, nowhere near awake yet.

She brought the strand which she'd been twirling through her fingers behind his ear and looked at him, his eyes only beginning to open.

"Shikamaru?"

"Hn?"

She didn't move her hand as she opened her mouth to speak. It rested by his jaw, leaning on his ear.

"What conditioner do you use?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes," she grumbled, "It's a matter of life or death."

He sighed and took his hand off of hers to rub his eyes.

"Whichever one is handy. I use my conditioner before my shampoo though."

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"You weirdo," she snorted. "Why would you do that?"

He shrugged. "My dad recommended I do it."

She nodded.

"I'll try that then,"

He frowned.

"I like your hair though,"

"Well _I_ don't."

"Whatever you want then." He replaced his hand where it had been and threaded his fingers through hers.

"How cruel," he mumbled. "Waking me up before six A M."

"I didn't mean to. I didn't think you were the kind of guy who had a delicate scalp."

He snorted at her joke and shut his eyes again, beginning to doze off.

"Hahaha, nope," Temari snapped, grabbing a fistful of his hair. "If you're awake, you're staying awake."

He winced and rubbed his head as she released him. "Woman, I can't function this early in the morning!"

"Tough."

"There isn't even anything to do! I'm not driving halfway down a mountain in the dark!"

"Entertain me then."

He huffed and reached into his bag, extracting a small leather bound book and dropping it on her lap. "Entertain yourself."

"I'm not reading a boo-"

"Just open it, will you?"

She shot him a death glare and opened it on the first page, gasping as her eyes settled on a beautiful picture of a forest trail.

It was shot in autumn, the golden leaves that littered the frame were caught mid-dance and swirled with such vibrant colours that even an artist would have difficulties painting them.

"It's a collection of my twenty-five best photos. A portfolio, if you will."

"It's gorgeous," Temari breathed, turning the page to see two more photos.

One was of a kingfisher in flight, hovering over a clear pool of water, the second was of a crowded marketplace seen from above, with red tents and bustling people.

The next page was a polaroid picture of two people: A slim blonde girl with silky smooth hair reaching for a boy's hand. The boy was pale and had an odd expression on his face as he gazed expectantly at her thin extended arm.

Opposite that was a shot of the same blonde girl from behind, walking with a larger boy. Their shadows stretched out behind them as they walked towards a wide expanse of trees.

She flicked through the next few pages which held pictures of dusty alleys and railroad tracks.

At the next page, she froze.

"Shikamaru?"

"Hrn?" He grumbled, his eyes opening in annoyance.

"Where are the rest of them? You said there were twenty five of them."

"Well there are _meant_ to be. I just haven't taken enough yet. Keep flicking through. I've left gaps."

Sure enough, she turned over the page and saw a picture of a pregnant woman glaring at a man who was smoking, who only gazed back at her with kind eyes. Neither of them were looking at the camera.

There was a photo of chess pieces toppled on a chess board that had grown dusty, and a photo of a bare tree.

On the last page she found-

"You _bitch_ ," she laughed, slamming the book shut.

"What?" He smirked, knowing full well what it was that had caused her to insult him.

She opened the book to the last page and placed it between the two of them.

The photo had a blue tone to it and showed a girl with blonde hair who had her hand pressed to glass and was staring longingly at something out of the frame.

The girl had four ponytails and even Temari had to admit it:

"I look good in this."

"Yeah," Shikamaru nodded absentmindedly, making her chuckle.

"Okay, creep."

He blushed a little and reached for the photo album.

"Who's the pretty blonde?" Temari couldn't help but ask.

"You?"

"Nice try, but no. The one who looks like a model."

Shikamaru frowned for a moment before realisation broke out onto his face and he flicked to the third page.

"This one?" He asked, pointing at the girl who was reaching for the strange looking boy.

"Yeah."

"That's Ino." He pointed to the boy beside her. "That's her boyfriend Sai, and this-" he pointed at the large boy who's back was to the camera. "-is Chouji. He's my best friend."

He flicked over a couple of pages and pointed to the photo of the couple.

"Kurenai and Asuma." He said, a small frown on his face. "Their kid is my god child. She's a total sweetheart."

Temari studied his face as he spoke of the people in the photos, subtly smiling at the fact that he was openly talking about his friends.

"And this is just some troublesome girl who dragged me on some epic journey," he added, pointing to the last one.

Temari rolled her eyes and ignored his last comment.

"They're really good photos, Shikamaru."

"Thanks."

She gently closed the album and leaned forward to place it on his lap, wincing as she felt a pain on her side.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," she muttered, pressing her hand to the spot on her waist. "I think I got a bruise there from the fall. "

"Do you want me to take a look at it?" He asked. "I'm not a medic or anything but..."

He stopped talking when he noticed her raised eyebrow.

"Shikamaru, that is the most circumspect approach anyone has ever tried to get me out of my clothes."

"Eh?! No-I-" he spluttered, instantly going red. "I didn't mean-"

Temari chuckled and shook her head "I'm only messing with you, but it's fine don't worry."

She settled back into her seat at the back of the car and watched Shikamaru as he delicately put the album back in his bag before resting his forearms on the steering wheel.

"What now?" He asked. "It's still too dark to drive."

"Wanna play chess?"

His eyes lit up at her suggestion and he got the board from his bag and opened the drivers door to come around and sit at the back with her.

"Prepare to lose, Woman." He growled with a smile, startling her slightly.

-IOIOIOI-

Shikamaru had fallen asleep half way through their sixth game of chess and the sun was beginning to rise with beautiful colours painting the sky.

"Hey, the sky looks nice," she muttered, placing the board on the front seat so that she could use his arm as a pillow.

She knew he probably hadn't heard her, but she didn't mind.

Scooting in close to him, she rested her head against his shoulder and allowed herself to close her eyes and give in to the fact that she was still tired.

She felt his arm wrap around her waist and didn't question it as his head dropped on top of hers and he half-whispered half-mumbled something which she couldn't quite understand because she was too busy falling asleep.

-IOIOIOI-

The car was moving as she allowed her eyes to open again, she noticed that she was strapped in and had a travel cushion around her neck.

"Shikamaru?" She called.

"Oh, you're awake?"

She looked to the driver's seat and saw his pony tail sticking out from above it.

"No, I'm just coherently sleep-talking," she said sarcastically.

She heard a chuckle.

"I'm getting us some take-out breakfast, I hope you don't mind."

"No, no. Fire away." Temari caught a glimpse of her reflection in the rearview mirror and was glad to see that her face wasn't as bruised-looking as it had been the night before.

"Where are we headed?" She asked, glancing out the window to see a road that she didn't recognise.

"You'll see."

A moment or so later, she heard him switch the indicator on before turning right into a car park. She couldn't see where they were and she waited until they were parked to ask again.

"Where are we?"

He didn't answer as he stepped out of the car and walked around to open her door for her.

Temari stepped out and frowned slightly.

"Why the chivalr- oh." Her eyes widened as she looked at the building in front of her.

"Oh." She repeated.

He chuckled and placed one of his arms around her shoulder.

"There are twenty five other letters in the alphabet who feel very forgotten at the moment."

She couldn't even glare at him.

"Oh."

"I'll take that as a 'wow Shikamaru, you're the best!' " he smiled, she could only nod in response.

"We should probably head in. I guarantee you the inside is better than the outside."

She nodded numbly and shuffled beside him, not daring to blink too much in case she was dreaming and it woke her up.

"Have you ever been before?"

She shook her head disbelievingly. She had completely forgotten to add the Planetarium to her list.

"Wow." She managed eventually. "Wow. Really Shikamaru, holy shit wow."

"I know, I'm the best."

"Yeah." She nodded. "Right now, you seriously are."

She saw a small prideful smile play across his lips as they walked into the building.

She didn't dare close her eyes.

* * *

 **A/N:IIIII NEEEEEEEEED TO SLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!**

 **I will edit this tomorrow or the day after, sorry for any mistakes-I'llgo through comments and all of that when I edit this chapter, I just honestly haven't got the time tonight, so if you' reviewed one of the last chapters and you want to see if I responded to that, I'll have it up in a day or two, I just seriously need to chill out and sleep for at least four hours right now.**

 *****EDIT*****

 **Okie: Reviews!**

 **Donutlovestea~ Okay. First things first. I LOVE YOUR USERNAME YES TEA IS THE THIRD BEST DRINK IN THE UNIVERSE! (The first and second prize go to Rum and Coffee.) Also, thankyou for them reviews- they mean a lot! I glad you like ^^**

 **pja2~ why thank you! Idk if you saw this in one of my other stories (I think it was limerence?) but I nicknamed the people who support my work as "fireflies", so welcome to the realm of lightning bugs! I've actually seen your name crop up a few times, so for that: Thankyou!**

 **I would write more, but tbh I'm a lazy shit so...?**

 **Please follow/ fave / review etc etc.**

 **Thankyou all soso much for all the support, my lil fireflies.**

 **~Leeeeeee T_T**


	8. Day 6-Blankets

Shikamaru didn't remove his hand from her shoulder until they'd stepped inside the planetarium. She looked around disbelievingly and filled with wide-eyed wonder as he went ahead to the reception and asked the lady for two entry passes.

Still too shocked to speak, she allowed him to fasten the navy paper band around her wrist.

They walked through into a theater and picked out two reclining seats.

"Shikamaru, I owe you so much." She finally managed to stammer.

He laughed and shook his head. "This trip is _more_ than enough."

She looked around some more, and when the lights began to dim and the seats pulled back so that she was facing the ceiling, she gripped the armrests of her seat so tightly with excitement that her knuckles went white.

"Chill," she heard him mumble. She could hear the amusement in his voice but she couldn't see his facial expression as the room had gotten too dark.

There were only around twenty other people in the theater, so it was fairly still. A stunning night sky was projected onto the dome-shaped ceiling and Temari held her breath as a voice from a speaker started guiding her through the galaxies with a resonating echo. At one point, she became faintly aware of a hand being placed on top of hers, but she hardly took any notice as she laced ger fingers through his.

-IOIOIOI-

"That. Was. _Amazing_." Temari gasped as the house lights went back on after a short hour.

The group filtered out into the museum section of the building and Temari was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Wasn't it just the best?!" She turned to Shikamaru who wore a look of pity and amusement.

"You're really that excited over an educational video?" He asked.

"Ssshhh, it was beautiful."

He laughed and they made their way through a maze of glass cabinets displaying meteorites and pieces from space crafts.

"It's insane," Temari said after a while. "It's really and truly the most insanely crazily wonderfully delightfully awesome thing."

"What?"

"Space," Temari sighed.

He considered her words for a moment. "I guess so. Do you believe we're alone in the universe?"

"No. Well... _Maybe._ " She shrugged as they made it to the café and gift shop. She went to the counter and ordered two coffees for them before taking a seat opposite him.

"I believe in alternate universes." She managed eventually. "I believe that somewhere, well maybe not some _WHERE_ but in some state of... Existence, there is another me who is healthy. Or another me who has two happy parents. Or another me who didn't make the decision to abduct a lazy barista and who spends her days staring out the window doing fuck all with her life."

"That's a nice concept," he said after a moment. "Personally, I don't think we're alone in the universe. I think that somewhere out there, another complete fluke happened and there is life there. Who knows? Maybe there are two weird slimy aliens who are currently discussing the possibility of life elsewhere after learning about stars."

Temari smiled. "Yeah, and one of them is awfully lazy while the other is 'troublesome'?"

"Precisely."

She watched as he took a long drink of coffee and quickly turned her head away as he set his cup down.

"Thanks for this, Shikamaru." She said eventually. "I seriously appreciate it."

"It was nothing, just a thought that occurred to me since you were talking about stars and the like."

"Still. Thank you."

He smiled at her and shrugged. "I just did what any good Chauffeur would do."

Temari was just about to make a joke when a thought struck her.

Seeing the stricken look on her face, Shikamaru leaned towards her.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah." Shook her head. "Yeah. Fine, sorry. I just forgot to take my medication, that's all."

He quickly drained the last of his coffee. "Stay here, I'll go get it."

"It's fine, I'll get it late-"

"Don't worry, I'll only take a few minutes." And he was off.

Sure enough, only six minutes later, he was back with her backpack in his hands.

"I didn't want to root through it or anything..." He said awkwardly as he handed it to her.

"I have nothing to hide." She chuckled. "Thanks."

She fished around in her backpack for a moment before pulling out a brown plastic tub of pills and a cardboard packet of painkillers.

After swallowing them down she put her bag on the ground and sighed deeply before resting her head in her hands.

"Temari?" She heard from opposite her.

"Yeah?"

"You alright?"

"Yeah."

She took a deep breath and looked back up again, smiling at Shikamaru.

"I feel fine!" She lied.

-IOIOIOI-

After a quick detour through the gift shop, the two returned to Shikamaru's car. They were both still tired and it was somehow already half past five.

"Do you want to just book a hotel room and then get dinner?" Temari suggested, as it was too late to do anything from the list.

"Yeah, sure."

They drove around for a little while before choosing to go to a quaint little hotel that was a little bit away from the main road.

"A room for two, please." Temari asked the receptionist who began clicking at their computer.

"Separate beds?" He asked, tossing his head to the side and eyeing them.

"Er, y-yeah?"

She didn't know why she disappointed herself with that answer, but she pushed aside her thoughts as they made their way towards their room and picked their respective beds in silence.

Temari went to take a shower and winced when she saw that her entire left side was covered in a dark bruise from her fall the night before. She took a cold shower to ease the pain slightly, but she let it heat up after a while. She loved hot showers after all.

She got dressed in something slightly nicer. Nothing fancy, just a pair of dark trousers and a white shirt, but nicer nonetheless.

She began drying off her hair as she stepped out of the bathroom so that Shikamaru could wash himself.

When they were both ready, they headed to a restaurant that they'd passed on their way to the hotel. It was almost full, but not loud, and the pretty waitress who brought them to their seat suggested some special of the day and a wine to accompany it, so they both accepted to have that.

As they waited for the food to arrive, Shikamaru began talking about his friends, Ino and Chōji.

"I've known them my whole life," he said with a small smile. "It's so strange when I think about it-they're like siblings to me, but they still manage to do the craziest things which I'd never expect from them. Like Ino dating Sai-that one shocked me."

He chuckled as he shook his head."But the weirdest part of that was that _she_ was the one who asked him out, not the other way around. She's always had guys flocking her and then all of a sudden she's dating the social-recluse transfer-student who used to spend the whole time drawing birds and wolves."

He shook his head as though he still couldn't quite believe it.

"And then Chōji managed to become a restaurant manager last year. He's doing really well too. It's a Michelin star place, the food is great, service is exemplary. Him running it definitely upped the standard of... Everything. I might take you some time." He suddenly became a little red as he cleared his throat. "If you want to, obviously."

Temari laughed at him. "Of course."

Their food arrived and Temari found herself talking about her brothers.

"Gaara just got his degree in economics and politics. He still isn't fully over his emo phase which he's been going through since... Well, forever. He needs to chill with the eyeliner-it's intimidating."

She chuckled as she spoke of him and Shikamaru poured another glass of wine. She nodded in thanks.

"Kankurō has been setting up his own business. He makes old-style puppets and her also keeps collectors editions of vintage and traditional puppets. He used to work for one of the engineering companies that used to be near by the café where you work, actually. The once that closed down a couple of years ago."

"I think I know the one you're talking about," Shikamaru nodded.

"And Baki is almost like a brother to me."

"The one who minded you?"

"Yeah." Temari smiled warmly and set down her cutlery as she finished eating. "He was better than our father ever was. He isn't even that much older than us, he worked for my dad, and I think he's a distant relative. He's only ten years older than me." She shrugged and cocked her head to the side. "He got Kankurō into face painting though, I'll _never_ forgive him for that."

She looked up at Shikamaru and grinned. "We're a fucked up family, but I love them all. For some reason."

"They sound... Interesting." Shikamaru said, looking a tiny bit confused since she mentioned the face-painting thing.

"That's putting it mildly."

They continued chatting until the bill came. Temari had intended to pay, but Shikamaru insisted, so she decided to let him.

As they reached their hotel room, Temari frowned.

"We kinda skipped a day there." She realised.

"Sorry?" Shikamaru asked, opening the room door.

"Well, tomorrow was meant to be the last day, but since we didn't stick with the list..."

"I can do another day." He shrugged. "If you aren't busy, we can just prolong the trip by a day."

Temari smiled and resisted the urge to hug him.

"Fuck yeah."

-IOIOIOI-

They played chess for an hour or two before bed, and after they got into their pyjamas, a silence settled over them.

Temari was lying in her own bed with her back to him, and she was almost certain that he was doing the same thing.

Her bed was too big to sleep in alone, but probably too small to share with someone without spooning.

She sighed and turned over so she was facing him.

"I'm cold," she grumbled.

He rolled over to face her, a frown appearing on his face.

"It's almost two A.M. Why are you waking me up?"

"You were already awake."

He rolled his eyes-well, Temari didn't _see_ him rolling his eyes, but she could guess that he had - and balled up his blanket before tossing it onto her bed.

"There. Now you're not cold." He turned back over and she glared at his back. Her plan hadn't worked. She sighed in defeat and turned back around to face the wall.

She had been hoping to wake up in his arms. She didn't know how she could possibly have developed such a liking for the lazy chauffeur, but there was no point in questioning something as silly as a crush. " _Just let it be_ " as Baki had once said to her when she'd given out about Kankurō having a crush on the neighbour. " _It'll pass._ "

She held back a huff as she nestled deeper into the warmth of the two blankets. She heard a shuffle from his bed before one of the blankets was lifted slightly. Oh _hell_ no. He was _not_ getting his blanket back.

She was about to turn and snap at Shikamaru when she felt the mattress dip slightly.

"Now I'm cold because I have no blanket, woman." He grumbled lazily into her ear as he settled in beside her with an arm finding her waist.

She chuckled and leaned into him, smiling contentedly.

"I'm sure."

Needless to say, two people and two blankets made it a bit too warm, so one of them was discarded halfway through the night and left on the ground.

At one point, his elbow skimmed off a more painful bruise, but she managed to conceal her wince faster than the speed of light. Thankfully, he had been asleep at that point. Temari dozed off and she didn't dream. She hadn't in a long, long time.

* * *

 **A/N: Hellooooo! Like the last chapter, imma write the author's note tomorrow. I am super tired!**

 **Please leave a review! This chapter took ages to write and it was originally gonna head in a completely differs direction. I've kinda run out of things to make them do, so if you guys have anything on your bucket list that you think would fit in nicely, please let me know!**

 **Please follow/fave/review! All feedback is really appreciated!**

 **~Lee T_T**


	9. Day 7-This

Temari woke up without a care in the world. Until she woke up properly and remembered pretty much everything about her life.

She sighed and turned over, finding that Shikamaru's arms were still wrapped lazily around her. It was strangely endearing to see him sleeping with a small smile in place as he held her.

She wriggled out of his grasp as gently as she could so as not to wake him. Comfortable as she had been, she really need to pee.

Shikamaru grumbled and reached for her as she stepped out of the bed and she could almost swear she heard a "Troublesome" slip from his lips.

She held back a laugh and headed to the bathroom, when she got back, he was still in bed so she went over to her bag and took her medication out as well as her phone. She hadn't thought to check for messages, but it wasn't as though she had many friends who spoke to her. She jumped back up onto the bed and turned on her phone screen.

She had 56 missed calls.

 _Shit_.

She quickly unlocked her phone and looked through the mobile history, all of them were either Kankurō, Gaara or Baki.

The most recent one had been three hours ago. She swore quietly and decided to phone Gaara, he'd be the most calm. She took a deep breath and clicked the call button.

Nothing.

Now Temari was panicking. What if something had happened while she was away? She'd told them that she was going on a trip, so they wouldn't have been worried about her. Right?

She was about to call Baki when her phone vibrated and Kankurō's number showed up, asking for a video call.

She sighed but answered anyways.

"Kankurō, what is it?"

"Ohoho." Kankurō fumbled with the screen as he placed it a decent distance away from his face. Temari was pleased to see that he'd taken the ridiculous makeup off. "Is sister dearest finally willing to converse with the members of her family?"

She rolled her eyes. "Kankurō, I've been busy."

"Yeah. Sure. Anyways, you're back tonight,right?"

Temari bit her lip, she hadn't thought to let them know that she was prolonging the trip by one day.

"Actually-" she began, but she was interrupted by Kankurō yelling.

"GAARA. BAKI. TEM IS ALIVE. YOU CAN CALL THE SEARCH PARTY BACK!"

"W-WHAT?!" Temari shrieked, causing Shikamaru to grumble in his sleep as he threw his arm over her waist.

"It was a joke." Kankurō deadpanned, as Gaara barged into the room and Baki followed a moment after.

"Guys. I'll be coming back a day later, alright?"

Baki raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't comment as Gaara sat down next to Kankurō on the couch and observed her.

"How come?" The redhead asked.

"They're are just a few things I forgot to do."

She raised her phone a bit to make sure that they couldn't see Shikamaru. All of hell would break loose if they did.

"Aww, but Baki's cooking sucks!" Kankurō whined, earning him a blunt slap on the back of the head, which made Temari laugh.

"I'll be home in a couple of days. Don't worry. We just went a little off-course yesterday..."

"We?" Baki asked, sitting up a little straighter.

"Y-yeah, I asked someone to drive me around. There's nothing going on, they're not a creep don't worry. I know them from er-college."

Kankurō narrowed his eyes.

"You never had friends in college. Is it a boy or a girl?"

"Why does it matter?"

"I don't want a pregnant sister."

"Kankurō, you know that I'm never gonna have kids, right? I mean, even if I got pregnant, I'd get an abortion. I'm not putting another person through this:" She pointed at both her eyes, effectively shutting her brother up.

She had successfully avoided the question.

"So you're back tomorrow night?"

"Yup. Don't worry, I'll make dinner, and Baki can stay over for food, as thanks for babysitting the pair of you."

"Heey!"Kankurō whined.

"So...Loud..." Shikamaru shuffled in closer to her and pulled her in, almost making her drop her phone.

"Idiot!" She hissed, flicking him with her free hand.

As it turns out, that was a mistake.

"Ouch! Woman, what was that for?!"

He sat up and rubbed his head, moving directly into Gaara, Kankurō and Baki's line of sight.

 _Ohh shit._

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!"

Shikamaru stared at the screen for a moment.

"...A person." He said eventually.

"Dude. Give me a name, and tell me where you live. If you do that for me, no one will get hurt."

"... For some reason, I don't believe that."

Kankurō narrowed his eyes and Temari desperately tried to think of some excuse that would make him calm down.

"So. Have you slept with my sister?"

"Yes." Shikamaru said simply, before realising that Kankurō didn't mean 'sleep' in the innocent sense of the word."No." He corrected.

Temari groaned and was sorely tempted to hang up, but she knew that would only fuel the fire.

"Well, which one is it?!"

"Kankurō you fuckwit, I haven't had sex with him!"Temari snapped. "Now mind your own business. I'll be home tomorrow night. Deal with it."

She hung up and tossed her phone onto the other bed.

"Well _someone_ decided to wake up."

"Hnnn. You were being loud." He lay back down, and Temari was about to give out to him when she felt his arms slip around her waist.

She could have a lie in.

He shifted slightly and placed a small amount of weight on her bruise, making her flinch and sharply inhale.

He quickly removed his arm and looked at her with a worried expression.

"Does it still hurt?" He asked, sitting up.

"Oh. Just a little, don't worry about it, it's fine!"

He didn't look pleased with her answer and moved so that they were both face-to-face.

"What do you gain from lying?" He asked, looking slightly like a sulking child.

"Look." Temari sighed. "It's just a bruise."

"I know, but you should still get it checked out."

Temari rolled her eyes and lifted the corner of her top up slightly to show him the mark.

"It isn't that bad, see?"

He raised an eyebrow at her before looking down at the dark bruise that covered a little over half of the left side of her waist.

"Temari..." He didn't look convinced as he dragged his eyes back up to meet hers. "It looks sore."

"Well it is, but I'll live." Temari shrugged.

He brought his fingertips to the injury and very gently touched it, as softly as a butterfly. She sucked in a breath of air, expecting pain, but none came.

He said nothing and didn't pull his gaze from hers as he trailed his fingers and eventually placed his hand on her waist, so carefully that it didn't hurt her. There was a question in his eyes that she didn't know how to answer as she couldn't quite read it.

"I won't think you're weak if you feel pain once in a while, you know?"

She couldn't speak as his hand settled where it was and he kept his eyes on hers. Had they always been this intense?

"Does it hurt?"

"No," she breathed.

"You sure?"

"Yes."

She felt his hand begin to move away from her, and, impulsively, she reached to hold it in place.

"Don't." She gasped, unsure of what she was asking him not to do.

He looked a little startled, but the question was there again, etched upon his dark irises.

"You'll tell me if it hurts?"

"Okay."

He began to move his hand up, so slowly that she didn't realise she was holding her breath until she needed more of it. His touch was hot but also cold, and soothing.

"There."

He froze, his hand halfway up here ribcage. "Here?"

She nodded slowly, and held back a gasp as his fingers spread out where they were and he allowed his hand to trail back down, stopping at her hip.

"Keep going." She whispered. She wondered, briefly, wether he thought she was being weird. She didn't know wether he did or not, but she knew he didn't mind.

He didn't protest, instead he just moved closer to her, so they were less than a foot apart and brought his hand up along the bruise again.

"Strange type of scar worship you've got going on there," he muttered.

"It doesn't have to be along the bruise." Temari countered, smirking when she saw a blush cast upon his features.

However, he surprised her by removing his hand.

"Don't be like that," he said, scooting a little bit away.

"Like what?" She asked, confused.

"Just... Teasing and-"

"Shikamaru." Temari said firmly, going closer to him and taking one of his hands in her own. "I'm not doing any of this to tease you."

She sighed at his uncertain expression and loosened her grip very slightly.

"I'm not using or manipulating you. Trust me on this."

"I don't think you know what I mean." Shikamaru sighed.

"Maybe I do."

He looked hesitant for a moment and he brought his hand forward to brush her fringe away from her eyes and let it fall onto her lap.

"Maybe you do." She felt his fingers brush against a small bit of skin on her hip, sending small static shocks towards her centre.

"I guarantee you, I do." She was close enough that she could have just leaned forwards and kissed him, but she refrained. That's what she'd done the last time and it had gotten awkward later on that day.

Was that really only two days ago?

But she really wanted to...

"But maybe you don't."

"No. I definitely do."

He almost laughed, she saw him holding back.

"Stubborn." He murmured, reaching up to twine a strand of her hair between his fingers.

"Certain," she corrected. She watched as his eyes studied her face.

"You have freckles," he observed.

"No I don't."

"You do." He insisted gently, as he brought his finger to the bridge of her nose and back to her cheek. "Sun freckles. They're feint, I've never noticed them before now."

She just nodded, still not fully convinced.

"They're cute." He said eventually.

She snorted. "Cute isn't exactly a word I'd associate with myself."

"Sure it is. Sometimes."

She laughed and once again resisted the urge to brush her lips against his, or tug on his shirt to pull his face closer. She wanted to, and she could see that he did too, but she wanted to see what he would do about it.

"Bitch." She chuckled as her laughter died down.

He said nothing, his eyes were on hers again, and that same damn question stared at her from the back of his pupils.

She didn't care that she couldn't read it. She simply nodded.

As though he'd been waiting for that the whole time, he reached forward and she felt his fingers at the back of her neck as he brought his mouth to hers and gently, or rather, more gently than she'd expected, she felt his lips brush off hers.

She moved closer to him, resting a hand on the back of his neck as he brought his other hand to the non-bruised side of her waist.

They lingered for a fleeting moment, their lips hardly touching, hers parted. There was some kind of competition between the two: Who would cave in first and seal the distance.

She was sorely tempted to actually kiss him, but she wasn't one to lose a fight. Without releasing his gaze, she sighed gently, knowing that he would feel it flutter across his skin. Having the desired effect, she caught a brief glimpse of his blush before he pulled her closer and their lips connected at last.

It wasn't rushed, not like when she had kissed him the last time. No, _this_ was slow. _This_ was gentle.

 _This_ was what the hype was all about.

He was holding her as they kissed and both her arms were wrapped around his neck, her fingers coursing through his hair and keeping him close to her-not that he seemed to be showing any desire to leave.

His lips were soft against hers, something which she found pleasantly surprising. She pulled apart by a millimetre to slide her tongue across his lips. His breath caught and he pulled her close again, drawing her lip in and biting it gently. Her poorly concealed moan clearly spurred him on more and soon their tongues were flicking off each other.

This was nothing like the quick shifts she'd had at the back of the bike shed in school, or her few brief encounters with some of the more adventurous girls in bathroom cubicles between classes.

It was, quite simply, amazing.

His fingers twined through her hair as his other hand settled on her hip, his fingers digging into her. She couldn't help but feel as though something about his demeanour was... Hesitant.

She pulled back slightly and reached for his hand.

"Have you done this sort of thing before?"

He shook his head embarrassed. She didn't laugh at him, as he'd probably thought she would.

"Okay," she said, "Let me guide you a bit."

* * *

 **A/N: Hehey! Right so I'm a little stuck: I don't know wether I should write the next part, or leave it to your imagination. I've never written a lemon before, so idk how good it would be. It might be awkward? I'll leave it up to you guys. Also, this chapter was really slow and based over a very short period of time, sorry if you didn't like it:(**

 **Okay: Thankyou so much for all the recommendations, I'll try include as many of them as I can when I eventually let these two leave the bedroom ;) the suggestions were really helpful!**

 **Please do let me know what you think: I'm a total sucker for praise and constructive criticism, so pleasepleaseplease leave a review!**

 **Thank you for reading! Follow/fave/review!**

 **~Lee;)**


	10. Day 7-Surprise

Needless to say, Shikamaru was a fast learner.

Add that to a small drop of instinct, and Temari could gladly say that she did not regret her morning activity one bit.

"We should probably get some breakfast," she panted after recovering as best she could. "We have things to be doing today."

"But the bed is so _comfy_ ," he sulked.

Temari rolled her eyes and pushed his arm from where it had been resting across her chest.

"Yes, but not comfy enough for us to be staying in it all day long. Get up, I have a list to finish."

He sat up as she left the bed to pull on some clothes. Their underwear had been carelessly tossed off the bed at some point during the last hour, so she threw his boxers over to him as she went on a hunt for her bra.

When they were finally both dressed and stable with regards to their pulse rate, the pair headed out to go to the hotel restaurant expecting to find a buffet selection or something of the kind, but the eating area was completely deserted.

"The breakfast hours are over," a kind-faced receptionist said with an apologetic smile as she saw the two of them pacing awkwardly around the empty tables.

They apologised and headed back to their room, where Temari finally thought to check the time.

"Well shit. We haven't got a whole lot of time, I guess."

"We could just-"

"No."

"You didn't let me finish."

"No anyways. I'm not taking suggestions, and I know exactly what you're going to say. We only have a few more things to do anyways, lets pack up and go."

Shikamaru sighed but didn't argue with her. She'd caught him smiling to himself a few times and had to hide her own pride at being the reason behind that.

"And..." She continued, getting his attention almost immediately. "If we have time after today's things are done, maybe we can..." She trailed off, knowing that there was no point in finishing her sentence.

Needless to say, Shikamaru enthusiastically finished packing everything and wasted no time getting to the car.

-IOIOIOI-

"Where to, Captain?" He asked, turning the key in the ignition.

"I'm not telling you. I'll just give you directions."

He raised an eyebrow but didn't question her as he pulled out of the hotel car park.

"Take the left here."

It wasn't until they were halfway there that Shikamaru's eyes lit up.

"I know exactly where we're going."

"Oh, where then, Mister Genius?"

"The Adrenaline Park."

"Well crap."

Temari leaned back in her seat and tucked the map back into her bag, slipping off her glasses as she did so.

"Nice choice actually, there's a lot going on there."

"Have you ever been?"

"Yup. I went with Ino, Chōji, Karui and Sai for Karui's eighteenth. We stayed three nights and we didn't get around to everything. The queues were huge because it was valentines week and all."

Temari was slightly disappointed that it wouldn't be a new experience for him as well, but she swiftly brushed aside her negativity. It meant they would be less likely to get lost.

"Okay, what didn't you get to do?"

"Most of it, to be honest. We mainly stayed around the theme park section of it. We didn't do any of the parcour or natural things. Ino wasn't keen on getting her clothes dirty."

"Did you do the hot-air balloon ride?"

"They have that?!"

"Yup."

"No, I didn't." He glanced at her with a curious expression. "Is it on your list?"

"Yeah, are you scared of heights?"

"No. Definitely not." He had a small almost-giddy smile for the rest of the trip.

As they arrived at the huge adventure park, they found a parking spot and Temari excitedly hopped out.

"There are three things that I really want to do."

"And they are...?"

"Zip-lining, hot air ballooning and I also want to see the waterfall that they have. I've heard it's breathtaking."

"I haven't done any of those things," Shikamaru said with a small grin playing at his lips.

They went to get tickets and book a ride on the hot air balloons. There were only two sessions a day, and they had missed the morning one.

"Waterfall first, or zip line?"

"Er, zip line. It's closest, and the waterfall is between here and where the hot air balloon ride starts." Shikamaru said as he peered at the map.

They walked for five minutes towards the zip-line "forest", as it was named.

Tall pine trees loomed overhead with cables and wires connecting them. They paid for their tickets and went to get equipped with harnesses and gloves.

"Alrighty," a man said, stepping out of the equipment cabin with an armful of climbing equipment in one arm. He glanced around at the group of about thirty people who were waiting to be equipped as a second man followed him. The pair of them equipped the group quickly and efficiently, and soon Temari was bouncing on the balls of her feet excitedly as she listened to the first man giving safety precautions on using the zip lines.

"Okay, feel free to pick the course that you'd like. There are four levels of difficulty. Please enjoy the experience."

The group scattered, some old-timers going directly to the hardest one and others going to the easy one.

Temari led Shikamaru to one of the less-busy ones, which was second on the "difficulty scale" and was marked in blue.

She began climbing the rope ladder that led towards the zip line and hesitated.

"Do you mind going first?" She asked.

"No problem," he shrugged, climbing up the ladder with ease and waiting for her on the wooden platform above.

Hesitantly, she began to ascend the tree. There were ladders, ropes and nets to get through before they got to the actual zip-line, which was actually entertaining in Temari's opinion as she got to laugh at Shikamaru's lack of athletic abilities as he charged forward ahead of her.

Once they'd reached the highest platform on that course, there was nothing but a vast expanse of air and trees around them. And a single cable, reaching out for what seemed like miles.

"Wish me luck," Shikamaru said, as he attached the pully-shaped clip from his harness onto the cable.

"You don't need luck." Temari smirked. "Just be sure not to place your hands in front of the slidey-thing."

He raised an eyebrow as he crouched down at the edge of the platform, about to kick off.

"Woman," he sighed with a sly smirk. "If this morning proved anything, it's that I know where to put my hands."

She flushed a dark red instantly and gave him a shove (only after making sure that he was well strapped up).

He laughed as he began to glide away from her at speed. She realised at that moment that this was one of the few times when she was completely alone over the past few days, and it annoyed her to realise that she missed his presence already. It hadn't even been a full minute, damn it!

After he was nothing but a distant speck that had stopped moving, she clipped up the pulley and took a deep breath, glancing around at all her surroundings.

She smelled pine trees and leaves and cold.

She saw him waving in the distance and took one final breath before letting herself fall, placing all her trust in the cable, the pulley, the harness.

The air rushed passed her as she practically flew, one arm outstretched to catch the wind, the other holding her harness. She began to laugh, reaching to hold a handful of wind in her grip and, logically, failing to do so. Her hair billowed out behind her as she rushed through the air towards a low platform where Shikamaru was waiting, smirking at her.

Her feet reached the platform and she balanced herself in an instant, taking a few steps forward to get used to supporting her own weight. She laughed at Shikamaru's amused expression and removed the pulley from the wire before climbing down the platform after him.

"That was amazing!" She gasped, slipping her arm through his subconsciously as she steadied herself a bit better.

"Should we try another one?" Shikamaru asked.

-IOIOIOI-

After going to all the different zip-lines (twice), the pair decided to move on to the waterfall before it got too late. This involved a half hour hike through a more inclined section of the gigantic park.

They were given a map and sent off on their merry way. It became clear very early on in their walk that the waterfall wasn't a hugely popular attraction compared to the others. Only a few others were headed in the same direction as them, and they all headed towards the natural hot spring, leaving the pair completely alone, but Temari didn't mind at all. Shikamaru's company didn't bore her one bit.

"Did you enjoy the zip lines?" He asked, conversationally.

"Oh hell yeah. They were awesome!"

He chuckled and she realised that she'd slipped her arm in his again. She awkwardly pulled it out and he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

"For holding on or for letting go?"

"Holding on."

"That wasn't the part that offended me though."

She got the hint and held on to him again, secretly relieved. Her balance wasn't exactly back to normal yet, and the roots underfoot were a little bit... Okay, she was making up excuses.

"Almost there, it would seem." He said, glancing down at the map.

"Great!"

They found a river bank straight ahead of them and began following it upstream. Eventually it widened into a deep blue pool with a gentle but beautiful waterfall cascading down the rocks.

"Wow!" Temari breathed, walking up to get closer to the fall. "It's amazing!"

Water was spraying at her from where the torrent made contact with the pool below, so she slipped out of her hoodie as she got closer. It wasn't strong, and the water seemed deep enough to step in. They were also the only ones there...

She turned to smirk at him before sitting by the edge of the plunge pool.

"Woman, your clothes will get wet," Shikamaru sighed from behind her as she slipped off her runners and her socks.

"Will they now?" Her smirk intensified as she reached for the hem of her shirt and slipped it over her head, standing up as she did so to take off her leggings.

"Um... Temari?"

"Yes?" She climbed down the rock face and into the water, momentarily shocked by how cold it was.

"This is a public place... What if someone sees you?"

"Dude. I'm not naked, I'm just swimming around. Underwear looks the exact same as a swimsuit."

"You can't swim."

"Paddling then." She got deeper into the water and it reached up to her collarbone as she cocked her head to the side. "Are you getting in or not?"

He didn't even pretend to hesitate about her suggestion as he pulled off his trousers and t-shirt.

"So skinny dipping was on your list?" He asked with a sly smile.

She splashed water at him before moving to the deeper part of the pool.

"Don't get the wrong idea, Chauffeur."

"Aye-aye captain."

She waded through the water absent-mindedly, relishing in the cool temperature and gentle current.

"Was this in the plan?" Shikamaru asked from where he was leaning against the stone that surrounded them, pretending not to be looking at her.

"Swimming at the base of a waterfall? No, but there's nothing like a bit of spontaneity, right?"

He smirked but said nothing, angling his face upwards to look at the sky. She silently made her way to his side, leaning her back against the stone. He jumped a little bit when her shoulder made contact with his, but he quickly recovered.

The water made it to just bellow her collar bone, but she let herself sink a little deeper so that there wouldn't be too much of a difference in temperature.

"Tomorrow's the last day." Temari murmured, leaning against him.

He hummed in agreement, clearly not noticing her tone.

"Are we going to stay in touch?" She asked.

His eyes shot open and he turned to face her.

" _Duh_ ," he laughed. "Are you trying to get rid of me? I promised I'd show you weasels, didn't I?"

She was surprised by how obvious he made it sound.

"Oh," she said, her eyes wide. "People don't normally tend to want much to do with me after spending a prolonged period of time with me..."

"I'm not just anyone." He snickered. "And I'm not ditching you."

"T-thanks."

She leaned a bit further into him and gave him a push, taking advantage of the fact that he was lighter in water.

"Hey!" He splashed water at her and she turned her back to avoid her face getting wet. When she turned back around, she saw that he was far closer to her than he had been before.

"Shikamaru?"

She thought for a moment that he was about to kiss her (And she wasn't _entirely_ against that idea), but when he got closer to her, he simply splashed her again. Caught off guard, she blinked a few times before glaring at him.

"Wow. Real mature." She sighed.

He laughed, "Is someone disappointed?"

"Yeah, right." She deadpanned.

He took her by surprise as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in against him.

"Are you sure you weren't even a _teeny_ bit disappointed?"

"Maybe a little..." She admitted with a cocky smile.

He laughed and brought his mouth to hers, and she realised that this was the boldest he'd ever been with her.

Even that morning, he'd been hesitant the whole time, but here he was being assertive, she realised, as he began walking backwards with his arm still holding her to him.

 _This is getting interesting..._

She felt him press her against the stone that surrounded the pool and it suddenly dawned on her that he was taking charge, and as much as she liked that idea, it wasn't like her to give in so easily. _Especially_ in public.

She pushed him away lightly, just enough to make him doubt himself, and slipped from his grasp whilst holding onto his arm and tugging him closer to where the water was falling and in behind the curtain of liquid where, sure enough, there was an undercut in the rocks where the water had eroded away the stone. It offered some privacy, just in case someone actually came by that way.

Here, her feet didn't touch the ground fully, but his did so she clutched lightly to his arm for support.

"You're ridiculous," he laughed, not seeming put off by the prospect at all as she pulled him in once more, winding her arms around his neck for support as he pushed back and, once again, put her between himself and the stone wall.

His kisses weren't slow and delicate as they had been this morning, there was an urgent hunger to them that she enjoyed just as much, if not more. She brought her legs around him, not seeing any reason to be standing on the tips of her toes when she could just be carried by him.

His hands began exploring her body in detail, and she noticed how, unlike most guys, he was far more interested in her legs than in her chest. A refreshing difference that she wouldn't have guessed she'd enjoy anywhere near as much as she did.

That said, his hands _did_ still manage to find the time to travel north every once in a while. She moaned quietly as his fingers inched from below her knee to her behind in one swift motion, and this only spurred him on as he continued up, going very gently as his fingers trailed past her bruised waist. She felt his hand as it crept up her back, and the other was on her knee holding her in place.

He groaned as she brought her nails slowly down his back, knowing he'd react like that. Not enough to hurt, just enough to feel. Speaking of feeling, she clearly felt the affect she was having on him a little lower down and she smirked as she slowly moved her hips against him. He shivered and surprised her (Yet again) as he moved his lips from hers and began trailing his mouth down across her jaw, her neck, her throat...

"Shikamaru..." She breathed, doing her best to keep her voice down to a minimum, just in case. _Big_ mistake.

One thing that she'd learnt that morning was that Shikamaru loved a challenge, and seeing her bite down on her lip in an effort not to cry out was all it took to make him be a little more creative with his actions.

He nipped at her neck and rocked his pelvis against hers, but she refused to make a sound. Stubborn was an understatement when it came to describing her.

He reached behind her back once more and gave her a questioning look as his hand reached the clasp of her bra.

"Really?" She asked, smirking at him.

He rolled his eyes. "Well if you're _not_ going to answer then,"

He moved his hand away and she was about to protest, but instead he slipped his hand under her bra, cupping her breast and making her gasp in surprise.

He gave a victorious, smug smirk as he went back to kissing her neck, chuckling at every poorly concealed noise she made.

"Sh-Shikamaru," she panted, bringing her hand to the band of his boxers.

"I er- I don't have a-"

"We didn't use one this morning either. I'm on the pill, idiot." She snapped, regaining some authority over her body as she reached back to take off her bra, seeing as it was getting uncomfortable.

He stared at her for a moment as she let it fall from her shoulders, she tossed it over towards a jagged piece of rock that protruded from the undercutting and praised herself when it caught on. Seeing no reason to argue, Shikamaru did the same (though not with his bra, mind you).

"You sure?" He asked again, picking her up again to pin her against the wall.

His hands were making their way towards her hips where they stopped at her underwear. She realised that she hadn't answered his question and that he was too much of a gentleman to continue without her permission.

"Yes," she laughed, pressing against him once more. "I'm sure. Idiot."

* * *

 **A/N: Uuuuhhhhh I couldn't get any further than this without cringing-not exactly lemon though? Pleasepleaseplease tell me if it's bad, cos then I can cut it out? Aaagghhh I'm cringing so bad rn, imma just post before I have second thoughts**

 **Please tell me what you think?**

~Lee \\(#-_-#)/


	11. Read me!

**[** ** _AN]_** _hey hi hello greetings etc, ChlorineObsession here ?_

 _I'm sorry for making an entire chapter dedicated to an authors note. I would only read this if you are genuinely interested in my fics because it's kinda long and probably boring *but* You might be interested by this so here we go!_

 _I have spent the past few weeks wondering whether or not to just delete the stories that I haven't completed yet along with possibly disabling my account. This isn't because of anything specific, I just haven't been feeling particularly capable of finishing a lot of the works I'd started, and I also have exams in June which are pretty much gonna decide whether or not I'm getting the scholarship I've been working towards for the past 3 years, so I suppose I've been rather busy._

 ** _However._**

 _Writing does bring me a lot of joy, and I've begun writing for a different fandom on a different site. I've made some incredible friends through this fandom and it made me realise how detached this community is, which is why I've decided that instead of just scrapping what I've got so far, I want to try improving it instead._

 _After my exams in June, I will begin working on remastered versions of all the fics I decide to continue with, as well as reaching out to people for support with these fics._

 ** _This is where you come in!_**

 _I'll be looking for some help and outside opinions regarding how I change my stories and perhaps start some new ones. This will be in the form of editors, beta readers and just anyone willing to listen to my rambling._

 _For this, I'm hoping to set up a discord server. For anyone who doesn't use discord, it's an app usually used for gamers as far as I'm aware, but it's just really handy for communicating/planning and forming a community._

 _If you're interested in giving a hand, meeting other people within the fandom and also getting support for your own fics, hit me up in the comments or in pms. If I get enough interest, I'll launch this initiative and we can help boost this (kinda withering) community._

 _I'll add in more details if I see it fit to do so!_

 _Let me know what you think,_

 _~Lee_


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